(Windowsill Gallery, Sunrise)

I’m grateful this morning for our two wood stoves, and for the portable heater in my study.

I’m grateful to be healthy, a good friend has just discovered her cancer has returned.

I’m grateful for the stream that runs behind the house, we can haul buckets up for the animals, and for our bathroom.

I’m grateful not to be in the awful position of our federal workers, pawns in the ever expanding political polarization and moral bankruptcy of our civic leaders. I think of them in this harsh winter, worrying about paying their bills. Our country is becoming amoral and aspiritual. It is just wrong to treat innocent people in this way. When you can’t pay your bills,  will they have enough heat?

The wood stoves are working hard to keep us comfortable, we could surely use the extra hot water heat, but we are battle-hardened country people now, the challenge is to handle the hard days. No shower, no toilet flushing, no washing dishes, no laundry. Our own odd little shutdown.

I was up half the night worrying about our farm and our animals, we have lost all water, and it is potent reminder of how dependent we have become on the conveniences we have grown up on. My grandmother didn’t have running water for the first 20 years of her life, she could  hardly believe how much easier life in America was than life in Russia.

Here are some ways you can help the federal workers during the shutdown. I believe what it is happening to them is an outrage, both to them, and to us.

I’ve tried three different plumbers, one won’t work on point wells, another is going to Mexico on Monday and won’t take on any work now, a third if busy laying floors in a renovated building. A fourth said he’s not available until the end of next week.

Early this morning, I texted our friend Jay Bridge, a retired engineer who takes on repair and carpentry projects. He does amazing work and he’s agreed to come over to the farmhouse to see if he can help. It looks like the pump on our point well gave out, it is about 40 years old, I see.

Jay is careful, thoughtful and extremely knowledgeable. There is not much he can’t or won’t fix. If  he cant fix this, we are in trouble and will need to think of digging a new well. That would take a while.

I’ll know more this morning, Now that it’s daylight and I can take some action, I feel better. Maria is a trooper, hauling buckets from our stream to the bathroom, cheering me up. For some reason, this makes me feel vulnerable, especially with a massive snowstorm and frigid  weather coming. It was 7 degrees when we went out this morning.

I’ve been through too many farm crises to count. There is always a way to get by, there is always someone who can help. I think I’ve got the right one in Jay. I was over at the Mansion this morning checking on the repair work, looks like the residents will come back next week.

Today, my mission is to get some new DVD’s for the residents who stayed behind at the Mansion, they are bored senseless watching the same movies day after day. I’m going to Wal-Mart to buy a bag full.

If you want to help the Mansion residents through this very challenging time – this crisis is going on longer than we thought – you can contribute via Paypal, [email protected] or by mail: Jon Katz, Mansion Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. You can also make a one-time donation in any amount by hitting the “Support The Army Of Good” blog at the bottom of this post. All major credit cards accepted.

There is more work to do, and thanks.