“When a man’s an empty kettle he should be on his mettle, and yet I’m torn apart. Just because I’m presumin’ that I could be kind-a-human if I only had a heart.”   — The Tin Man, The Wizard Of Oz.

Ed Gulley and I haggled for about 15 minutes over the Tin Man. He’s staying. Our country is being torn apart, if only we all had a heart.

We reached a deal before a small army of listeners and well-wishers, it was, as negotiations go, peaceful and productive.

There was much applause from the people gathered for the second day of the Open House, the best Open House yet for us.

I am paying a month fee to Ed – $50 – to buy the Tin Man, I will mention Ed and his blog whenever I wrote about the Tin Man (which I do anyway, to be honest,) and take him and Carol out to an unspecified number of dinners.

Ed is already at work on another Tin Man which will live in his garden at the farm. So he agrees he gets the best of both worlds. I think we both came out okay, but since we both love each other – he says I am his brother by another mother – it went smoothly and without cursing or violence.

Maria said she wasn’t sure we needed the Tin Man – we switch gender roles here –  but seemed delighted about it.

I told Ed I’d probably be dead before I paid it all off, and he says he’s good with that. The negotiation was helped by Ed’s discovery this morning that the Tin Man discussion on my blog has boosted his blog traffic substantially, this could work out for both of us. He is selling his quite wonderful art on the Bejosh Farm Journal.

The Tin Man is already an internet sensation, and almost everyone who came to the Open House wanted to have a picture taken with him. He has already touched a chord, but I believe he can be a major photographic and textual presence at the farm. We are all about emotion here.

Ed’s Tin Man is the perfect symbol for Bedlam Farm, especially right now. In America, we are all about the search for a national heart, and much of the work for the Army of Good is about finding  our hearts and using then to do good. For me, it’s not about the rantings of the left or the right, it’s all about caring for others.

There is also the matter of the heart, and I am mindful of mine these days. But it’s more about emotion than anything else.

Here, we worship empathy, not argument. We do not fight about what is good, we do good as we see it by our own lights. In a way, I have been on the Tin Man’s journey, like so many men. I think I have found my heart, first in Maria and then in my life.

And we are doing a lot of good. The Tin Man will  help us, I believe, he certainly inspires me, as he has inspired Ed, who chats with the Tin Man regularly. I haven’t done that yet. We have to figure out where to keep him, I like him just where he is, but Maria may have a better idea.

This Tin Man has a lot of heart and he will remind me to use mine.

I am most happy to welcome  him to Bedlam Farm. Ed is thinking of putting marbles where his eyes are, I like that idea.