I was worried about the lonely vigil Bud has been on for some weeks now, he has a chipmunk’s hole behind him, under Maria’s studio, and one at the base of the maple tree in front of him.
He sits there for hours, staring quietly at the chipmunk holes. I worried he was getting obsessed, but he is happy to break off and play with Zinnia and comes running when called.
And he will go anywhere instantly to eat a treat or dinner.
I came to the conclusion that he is very happy. Hunting rodents is what he is bred to do and never got to do in Arkansas where he has confined to a pen his whole life.
He could see chipmunks but never chase them. He’s making up for lost time. So far, he only caught one. They are wise to him.
I’m always thinking about whether what I am doing is helping people. Some people really need some guidance in understanding the politics of the country now.
I feel I might be able to help. So far, the response suggests I was correct.
Some people need to a photo of a donkey or a dog or a flower.
I try to do both. Some of the animal people are ticked off when I write about anything else. Some of the political people are shocked to see a photo of a donkey.
I think it’s another gift of hard times. I don’t want to just be a cute animal writer, and I don’t want to be a Washington political pundit even less. Writing from the blog and on the blog and from the farm gives me the chance to do both.
I’m’ going to keep at it, I keep an eye the election, I keep writing about animals and taking photos of them. Like my car, I’m a hybrid now.
My guiding philosophy is to write about what I want, and if I love what I do, and if I tell my idea of the truth, it will be meaningful to people.
“Variety is the spice of life.” I learned this was true each time Universe presented me with something new to see, taste, feel, hear, touch and love. “The only constant is change.” Even tho this premise has been my mantra every day of my life, and every day has provided me with multiple changes, mostly tiny, but some major ones as well, I can trace back my belief in this statement as “fact” when in my pretodler year my parents and older sister and two maternal aunts and I moved from a DP (Displaced Person’s Camp) at the foot of the Alps near Salzburg to Illinois with the Mormon Temple on one side and the Benedictine Monastery on the other side of the house that we were allowed to live in when my father was taken on a caretaker of the monastery. The kind sisters and the parish priest had kindly sponsored us to come to the USA. My father’s side of the family (what remained after WW2 and ) rest of the family was sponsored to Argentina and I have only met my uncle’s wife once and never met the others (paternal grandparents and uncle and cousins) since then. This was reinforced when, shortly after I “graduated” from my “public school” kindergarten two blocks from my (now in Wisconsin – another move) house (dirt floor basement, coal burning furnace) to the first grade at the Catholic Grade School across the street. the large brick kindergarten public school building burned to the ground and was never re-built. And I kept track for my entire 71 years of observation and decided that Humanity and Life in general can only exist with CHANGE “writ large” because of the Yin/Yang energy necessary to keep the movement active. I love change. I embrace change. I feel a bit of stagnation when I am not sensing the “movment” of time and energy and life…. milkaTheAppreciator/anpu
Hey Jon, First off, great post! I have followed your blog since the beginning, it has never remained static. At first it was heavy on the writing about dogs, the farm, rural life, then your really got into photography and for quite a while you were more of a photographer than writer. It was amazingly satisfying to see you grow in leaps and bounds, using new lenses and editing software to create artful masterpieces. Then you swung back towards writing about the farm, Maria, and your life together with fewer photos and longer stories about the goings on at the “new Bedlam Farm” and Simon. Following that, came your involvement and subsequent photos and stories about the Mansion and Refugees at school. Lately you’ve incorporated political writing into the mix as well, and we are all the more richer for it! I know I’m skipping some big events, all the dogs, cows, goats, sheep, chickens and donkeys etc as well as some major life events for you but I think you get my drift. Thanks for allowing us access to the twists and turns in your life, whatever iteration it is, it’s never boring! Keep it up, Aisling
Keep on doing what you are doing. I like a mix of your political posts, but more so you animal pictures and stories.
Jon, I love to read about the Mansion, the dogs, cats, chickens, donkeys and of course, Maria and her art and belly dancing. I don’t care for your political writing. I can see all I want to of this in the newspapers and on national news. I just skip over it, though. Keep writing whatever you like to and I will keep reading the parts that I like.
Good Connnie, you shouldn’t read anything you don’t want to read. Smart response..
It doesn’t matter to me what you are writing about. I know I can find some kindness and common sense in your writing so please write away no matter the content.
To me, you’re doing great re: blog posts. Posts about cute animas give me reason to smile, sometimes ponder. Posts about politics, even if I don’t agree with you (I’ve never thought DJT the master of anything but BS), give me reason to ponder, sometimes smile. You have given me much to ponder re: the collapse of family farming, which even in “good” times was often supported by families working second jobs in factories, long gone – good, proud people now without a way forward – a perspective I don’t see find anywhere else.
Same response as Bonnie…See enough of this stuff all the time…Your blog was at one time refreshing, interesting and fun…but I realize that you have to do what makes you happy and the positive comments I know are uplifting to you so it really doesn’t matter what any of us think……I like your blog, always have, but just skip the political stuff…..
Jon, I always appreciate what you have to say, regardless of the content. I just seem to learn something, or find myself looking at things in a different light, from your words (and wonderful pictures), So please keep it up!
I love reading about dogs and donkeys and farm life. I deeply appreciate your unique perspective and insights on the current political situation. And your photographs are gorgeous. I love seeing a new blog post from you. Thank you for continuing to write.
You can tell Bud that our Boston Willow surprised herself and us when she finally caught a chipmunk after 5 years of trying. My husband told her to drop it and it took off.