Happy New Year! May it be peaceful, meaningful, and hopeful. Maria and I have not quite succeeded in being as restful as we hoped; it was an eventful few days. But we are giving it another go tomorrow afternoon. We’ll work in the morning and have our quiet celebration in the afternoon. We’re still working on it. This year, my blog, writing, and photography are devoted to hope, faith, compassion, and empathy to a kinder and gentler world. I’m not blind; I understand the fear, but I believe the blog is fast becoming a place of rest and civil thought.
The trolls are mostly gone, deleted, shamed, ignored or bored. Like racing cars, their fuel is other people’s pain; without it, they stall and melt away.
They are no longer in my head, or on my blog, they are they coming around, choosing instead to feed on someone else. It is true; what is in my head will come out in my work. I get it.
I wish you every happiness this year, and I will be here writing and clicking away with my cameras and spouting off my philosophy and spiritual yearning. I hope to be a positive and helpful force and wish the same for you. Much love and compassion to all of you, and thanks again for all the support you have given me over these remarkable years. I told Maria I didn’t know anyone like us, for better and worse.
But I am proud of us and grateful. Life is a process, and we’re in it. See you in the morning.
Happiest of New Years to you and Maria. It’s always exciting to have a new year to live through!
Here’s to a New Year filled with peace, joy, good health and kindness! Thank you for all the beautiful photos and uplifting posts. You and Maria truly are lights in our troubled yet beautiful world. Many blessings to you, Maria and all the animals of Bedlam Farm for 2024. I am blessed to call you my Friend!
Same to you Josie
Jon your blog is all that you hoped for and more. It brings me calmness and peace reading it.
Sandy Small Proudfoot
Ontario, Canada
Happy New Year Jon, Maria and all the animals of Bedlam farm.
Happy New Year to you and Maria! You both uplift me every single day…..and I always learn (and hopefully grow) from your words………….
hugs in front a warm fire to you both
Susan M
You’re wrong about the movie Maestro, Jon. It’s pure genius. Pure genius.
Pam thanks disagreeing doesn’t make a person right or wrong. I’m not here to tell you how to feel. If you loved it, it was good for you. We have lost the ability to respect differing opinions. I wrote honestly about my response.You did the same. We did nothing wrong. I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Jon, you are a positive and helpful force in this world; writing honestly about your desires, struggles, beliefs and growth has been so helpful to me. You and Maria live a life of service to others, while balancing your own needs and wants. Learning to balance service with self-care has been quite the journey for me. I can’t pour from an empty cup. Filling it requires all manner of intentional effort on my part; it’s no one else’s work to fill my cup. Service can and does fill the cup, but without balance, I become drained and cranky, and no one needs that version of me around. So, thank you for showing me, in 2023, what service and balance look like, and how to do both for a full and satisfying life.
Thank you for your new year greeting. This first day of the year I start my day reading your blog, as I do every day. It brings love, kindness and compassion and joy to my life.
Thank you, Penny
May the New Year bring you both health, happiness, and fulfillment. Thank you for sharing your journey with us . Both your writings and photography enhance my life – may both your lives continue to be blessed and enriched as well.
Happy New Year to you and Maria and all the creatures of Bedlam Farm! Your writings, artwork and sharing of life brings so much joy and peace and good for thought to us all. Thank you so much!
Jon, Happy New Year to you and Maria. Love your blogs. Wishing you both all the best for 2024.
Happy New Year! We just came home (back down to Connecticut) from a weekend visit to Greenwich and Cambridge. We had a little weekend getaway visiting the area around Bennington and North Adams where we usually go, and this time we booked a VRBO in Greenwich so we could explore a new/different area close to where we’re familiar but a little further out. We were so surprised to see signs alerting drivers to horses and buggies, and then one morning we saw an actual horse and buggy clopping down the street in front of where we were staying along the Battenkill river. We had no idea there were Amish communities so close to where we usually go. I got curious and started googling around and came across your blog and think it’s so interesting to learn more about Washington County. Cambridge and Greenwich are both beautiful areas and we’re already planning a trip back up in the summer 😄 I think the juxtaposition between Washington County and Bennington/North Adams is so interesting to experience. I also think I’m a bit off topic of your actual New Year’s post lol, sorry about that! Just wanted to say that your blog about your neighbors is super interesting and enjoyed by us a couple years later! Have a happy new year 🙂
Congratulations on deleting and ignoring! That is a lot of power! Thank you for sharing the positive with us readers to make us all more peaceful. That is a lot of power also! 💪😘