I have high hopes as always, for this week in Bedlam.

First, I’m trapped in one of those new corporate tech nightmares, I dropped my Iphone X a while back and broke the glass (is this supposed to happen, case and all?).  Many phone calls, no results. The AT&T owned insurance company I signed up is coming to the farmhouse to repair the glass but has blown two appointments already, and I’m getting weary of people pretending to care but don’t. Another spiritual opportunity to learn patience.

It’s not the end of the world. The phone is still working. But I got pretty angry.

Tomorrow, I’m going to the Mansion for my weekly story session. I’m happy to say that every resident of the Mansion who wanted or needs one has sweaters, warm shirts, and scarves. Next up, warm shoes for the cold weather. Fate and I will visit the lone resident of the new Memory Care Center, more people arriving next week.

This week, I’m eagerly waiting for news of Garnett, the beautiful Lab momma (I can’t do “bitch,” it just sticks in my craw) who is due to give birth sometime in the next eight days. If all goes well, our new pup Zinnia (“Zin”) will be born and she can come home around Thanksgiving, which would be pretty sweet. Time for me to start saving for the rest of the money – $2,000 plus the $500 deposit). I am praying for no more barn damage.

The cost is certainly worth it to me, and a fair price for a wonderful animal who will join our family and hopefully pick up Red’s therapy work.

The Bishop Maginn Monthly Free Lunch program is off to a good start, I have enough money to buy lunches for the whole student body through December,  I sent the first check off for the first lunch over the weekend.

I’m hoping to raise $800 more to get us almost to the end of the school year.

Some of the kids can’t afford the $2.50 pizza slice fee. (They are fed other food). The food service has agreed to provide freed salads with the pizza and pay for any cost above $200. This would be monthly. If you wish to contribute – I have enough money to get us to Christmas – you can do so via Paypal, [email protected], or by check, Jon Katz, Pizza Lunch, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. Pizza slices are not something kids ought to be excluded from.

(Please don’t forget the Bishop Maginn Wish List certificates, an easy and inexpensive way to feel good and help the school)

Wednesday, I’m going to Bishop Maginn to meet a young woman, an Iraqi refugee who has endured a hellish time getting to America and surviving here. She very much wants and needs to stay at Bishop Maginn, I have offered to try to help with her tuition. Tuition for her for a year is $4,000 (the top private schools in Albany charge more than $30,000 in annual tuition) but we don’t need that much to keep her for now. One kid at a time, one year at a time.

I’m going to take her photograph and talk to her. I’ll share the meeting, of course.

I’m sure there is more I’m leaving out, but it’s a good start. My porch photos are getting iconic, they say artists and photographers love to revisit their favorite shots. This is one of mine, the porch has become the soul of the farm.