Mary Kellogg is a prophet of courage, inspiration and encouragement. She is 84 now, and working on her third volume of poetry, as yet untitled. She lives by herself on a 30 acre farm not to far from us and she spends much of her time driving her friends to grocery stories and doctor’s appointments. She has been writing poetry since she was eleven years old and I was the first person she ever showed it to six or seven years ago. She was one of the many wonderful things that happened at our Open House today, and there is yet another day to go.

Mary read from her poetry (she will read again tomorrow at 2 p.m.). George Forss was commissioned to do eight portraits – he said that was his limit for one day, he will return Sunday to do more. Members of the Open Group At Bedlam Farm came to Cambridge from all over the country to meet, talk to one another, share their powerful sense of creativity and community. I joined them for breakfast at the Round House Cafe, they came early to the farm, stayed late to talk, they shined the brightest light on the day.

I did about five herding demos with Red, he and I can barely move tonight, Maria sold a lot of scarves, potholders, the artists sold photographs, paintings, we sold more than 40 packs of notecards. All of these things will be on sale Sunday, and then, online on Maria’s website. Kim Macmillan handled the money in the studio barn, Jack Macmillan kept everyone safe in parking and getting onto the farm.

I would say between two and three hundred people came to the farm today, a perfect size on a perfect day. Deb Foster conducted guided donkey tours all day, she also helped us raise money for the Hubbard Hall Scholarship Fund (I am raffling off a framed photo to raise money for the fund.)

Tomorrow, we do it again from noon to 4 p.m. We are proud to share our love, I am always astonished, humbled and gratified by people who travel far to see me. Kimberly from Canada said she was nearly overwhelmed at seeing people and animals she had read so much about, me too. Cathy Stewart, a photographer and blogger and neighbor of the Central Park Carriage Horses came up from New York City, her beautiful pictures and words gave so much strength to the people in the carriage trade, I was so glad to meet her and talk with her, she inspired me to keep writing about the horses.

I gave a talk about the Open Group, about my lifelong dream for a truly creative community online, and how it came about, and I talked about the carriage horse issue and the future of animals in our world. What a wonderful day Maria and I had, it was simply a perfect experience, rare in any life, a precious gift.  I was awash in good feeling, I loved seeing George Forss get the recognition he deserves, he is a great and wonderful man. The Open Houses are a celebration of many things, but I suspect for me, the core is a celebration of my life with Maria, of her wonderful evolution as an artist, at the unimaginable gift of finding love in my life and learning how to give it and receive it. I felt it all day, from the Open Group, to my exhausted donkeys, sheep and dogs, to the wonderful visitors and friends who helped make this day shine so brightly.