I had a day in the whirlwind, the morning seems like 100 years ago.

Andrew, who has been guiding me in my photo editing and masking work, made time for me this morning and we brought some Leica Q2 color photos into Lightroom.

(The photo above is of Lulu’s eyes. A donkey’s eyes are deep and beautiful, they see everything, and reveal their deep souls.)

It was challenging but productive, we touched up two photos I took yesterday, and both of Maria and I liked the results. I’ll put them up here.

(I really liked this portrait of Jake, a Gargoyle replica of one on the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. I got him 15 or more years ago from a woman who traveled to Europe to bring back classy and famous statues for our lawns and porches. He is formidable but even-tempered, like a Lab He has been with me ever since and lives on the steps on the front porch that nobody uses.  He watches over me and chases evil spirits away. The Leica 2 struggles in bright light, I need a filter)

I made a point to go out and sit with the donkeys and the sheep, I wanted to get close to them and perhaps take a picture or two. I enjoyed it very much, and the donkeys were very happy to see me, both of them came over and demanded scratching on their ears and necks.

During my troubled foot time, I didn’t go out to the pasture much, my boot wouldn’t permit it, and I got out of the habit. I missed it a great deal and Maria and I resolved to get two chairs out there and sit together with the animals at least once a day, weather permitting.

(If I sit out with the animals, they soon relax, they are quite used to me, and once they see I’m not bringing food, they visit me, sniff me over, try to eat any Iphone or camera, and they go to sleep. They are very calming, a powerful meditation, I will be doing that every day from now on, with Maria if she is able, or without. It is just something I very much love to do and need to do. It is, in one way, why I am here. Life can’t be so rushed that I don’t have time.)

I’m very happy about that.

I worked with the Web designers on the changes to bedlamfarm.com and I also write a new mission plan for the blog. I want to call it: The Bedlam Farm Journal, Love, Care, Hope.

(Andrew and I took this photo into Lightroom. There was no light in the woodshed. I was able to brighten Maria and also show more of the wood she was stacking. It was very little work with just the right effect.

That’s what I want the blog to be about from now on. Zero tolerance for nastiness, from outsiders or from me or anyone else. I’m very clear about it, my therapist and I worked on my own anger issues quite intensely, some years ago, and again now.

I am ready to deal with it head-on. As I wrote on my blog today, the best way to deal with hatred and cruelty is not at all. There is no winning and losing, just pain.

(When the Leica lights into something, the color can knock your socks off. These new maple leaves had the sun beaming right on them, and they fairly glowed. The Leica 2 caught the glow.)

I want the blog to be a safe place, a peaceful place, a place of affirmation, hope, and sometimes – perspective.

A place that distracts and restores.

I will write about politics from time to time when I think there is some perspective I can offer that might be useful and that is not appearing elsewhere.

But I won’t be contributing to the hatred and anger sweeping the country. People can get enough of that, but not enough good, compassion, and empathy. It’s important to also share my life with Maria and my life with animals.

There are lots of lessons in both.

(This is my first portrait with A Lieca. As a rule, I’ll use the monochrome. Today marked my return to the Mansion, they are opening up again after another round of Covid-19, the pandemic that won’t quite die. We stayed outside in the garden and I took a portrait of Ann Quinn, a retired nurse who’s been at the Mansion for more than a year. I’ll be writing about her tomorrow, once a nurse, always a nurse, she says, and she dedicates herself to helping the residents of the Mansion in any way she can. Tomorrow I’m bringing flowers and gardening tools. I’m glad to be back there again, regular visits combing up.)

This afternoon I was pretty worn out but I went outside and tested the camera some, identifying my problems and issues and searching for the camera’s strength. Color and feeling are the strong points, I am learning what it does brilliantly and what it doesn’t.

I have three photographic choices now. The Iphone, which is better than either Leica for sweeping landscapes, and the Monochrome, which is great for portraits and images of contrast, and the Leica 2, which is also an amazing camera for color photos, a camera that will once again test me and challenge me to move up a notch or two on the ladder.

It’s getting dizzy up there. That’s my life today. Maria is home from belly dancing, and I’m scrambling to feed her something before she staggers off to sleep.