“I’m not a joiner, and I’m not a perfectionist or anything else…” – Georgia O’Keeffe.
My mini-sabbath day was interrupted by the Food Pantry’s Thanksgiving needs. I’m taking the rest of the day off and going for a walk with Zinnia. See you in the morning, and thanks for supporting my work in so many ways. Have a peaceful weekend.
Zip, a year ago.
The big news is that the Cambridge Food Pantry, with the support of our community, is holding a Thanksgiving Dinner Giveaway on November 21.
We are deeply grateful for your contribution, no matter how small, as it will make a significant difference. We are asking the Army of Good for help: two fixing bags and a frozen turkey for 50 families. This is a testament to our collective strength and compassion.
This is a dream come true for many people who need help with even the most basic food and hygiene—all they need for a full traditional meal. They tell me nothing is worse than telling their children they can’t afford Thanksgiving dinner.
This is a gift of pride and hope. Many of these families and children know what it is like to skip Thanksgiving dinners. This year, with your support, we hope to change that and bring overwhelming joy and relief to these families.
The pantry is raising funds for the turkeys. They asked if we could provide turkey gravy for $1.99, jelly cranberry sauce for $1.58, and fresh stuffing mix and turkey flavor for $1.59. I said I was sure we could.
Here’s the challenge: They need 300 cans of Turkey Gravy, 150 cans of Cranberry Sauce, and 150 cans of Turkey Flavor Stuffing Mix. That’s 600 items altogether, all inexpensive. It will take 4-5 weeks to do it.
I told Sarah I believed we could do it; all of the items needed from us cost less than $2.
We could quickly reach the total if many of us did five at a time and adopted an item or two.
If we sometimes can buy more than one at a time, November 21 (probably sooner) will be reachable and a wonderful gift to give these people and their children on Thanksgiving.
I’m hoping we can get started this weekend. I post the total needed and the total sold daily. These three items will remain on the Pantry Wish List until we send all 600.
Campbell’s Turkey Gravy, 10.5 Oz Can, $1.99.
Fresh, Regular Jellied Cranberry Sauce, 14 Oz, $158.
Fresh Stuffing Mix Turkey Flavor, 6 Oz. $1.59.
_______
Your support is crucial in making this a reality. This is a beautiful project for the food pantry, and I assured them that we will do everything possible to provide the support they need to give every one of their registered families the best possible Thanksgiving dinner.
I’ll be posting the count and remaining needs every day between now and then.
All three items are on the Wish List and will stay on the list until they have been purchased and donated. The Thanksgiving Giveaway will be a drive-through at the pantry building as long as our supplies last. If we can send our 600 items, every family will get one.
I know we can do this, and today is the proper weekend to start. I’m excited. The Army Of Good has handled more challenging and expensive causes, but this is one of the best. I hope you can help.
_____
I’ll post these items every day from now on; Sarah will continue choosing two items a day that are popular and no longer on her shelves. Here are two for today and tomorrow:
Tide Liquid Laundry Detergent, Heavy Duty, Original Scent, 24 Loads, 34 fl oz, $5.50.
Velveeta Shells & Cheese Original Pasta & Cheese Sauce Meal (3ct Pak, 17.0z), $7.47.
These are two of the most popular pantry items and are almost impossible to keep on the shelves. Thanks for helping to replenish them.
You can access the Cambridge Pantry Amazon Food Wish List anytime and browse and purchase items day and night, 7/47. You can also access the list by going to the bottom of every blog post on my blog and clicking on the green food pantry button.
Susan Nachand’s Florida town was recently devastated by tornados. In the midst of this chaos, she found solace in the daily ‘Beautiful Morning At Bedlam Farm’ pictures on the blog, a testament to the blog’s relevance in even the most challenging times.
She said the photos gave her strength for healing, recovery, and renewal.
This was one of the most beautiful messages I’ve received since starting my blog. You can read it here. This has been my dream for the blog; it took me long enough, but I’m getting there. Today’s “Beautiful Morning” post is dedicated to Susan, who is working bravely to put her life back together.
Thanks, Susan. Good Luck.
Moving Manure
Fate rounding the corner at high speed.
Zip is serious when he gets up. He scans the pasture for mice and rats. God help the one he spots.
We are preparing for the Solstice, stacking wood and broken limbs for the fire (and broken old chairs.)
Sun art in the living room, reflections from the sun through the windows.
“Jon, congrats on writing the perfect response to a snarky reader! I can provide a counterbalance to what she said. I live in Sarasota, FL. At midnight on Oct. 10, I briefly stood in my driveway in the eye of Hurricane Milton. After the eye passed, all hell broke loose. Winds up to 165 mph. My city has been decimated. I went eight days without power and just got it back yesterday. Once I got online, one of the first things I opened in my Inbox was your blog. Never had I been so happy to see Maria’s manure throw, you scratching Zip’s ear, and Fate ‘chasing the sheep.’ Unfortunately, I missed the tampon story. The blog reassured me that although my life had taken a turn for the worse, life, joy, love, and daily routine were still happening in another part of the world. Your blog showed the normal events in a happier place. It comforted me and gave me hope. When your world has been turned upside down, nothing is more beautiful than pictures of a routine, ordinary day on Bedlam Farm.”
– Susan Nachand
Susan, your message means so much to Maria and me. This has always been my dream for the blog—a safe and meaningful place for people to live in a turbulent world. It just took me a long time to get there. I thank you for your faith in me and wish you healing and hope.
You have the capacity for both. Thanks; you got some tears rolling here. A message like this makes it all worthwhile and more. Your attitude is a model for us; it’s nothing less than heroic. There will always be trolls and snarks, but very few Susan Nachands.
Your message is going up on my office wall—every blessing to you.
___
The Snarky Message
Tyea: Too bad Lieca Lives. I was hoping it was the end of the boring blog….Beautiful morning, manure throw, and the Cambridge food (and tampons, diapers, and wipes) pantry… repetitive and badly needs new content to stay viable.
_______
My reply to the Snarky Message (they used to call it cruel): The tampon reference is to my work on the blog to fill the women’s hygiene shelves at the local food pantry with tampons and pads. We’ve been successful. This is upsetting to Tyea.
“Tyea, thanks for your loyalty to my blog. Good morning to you, too. A friend who works at a big tech company told me that messengers like yours are the most loyal ones blog readers could have, and here you are, telling me I need new content (and hope my camera dies) but are still following me closely every day. How else could you know how awful I am? I guess hatred needs fuel. This gave me a new way of looking at online cruelty. You sure don’t seem bored to me. jon”
“Georgia O’Keeffe inspires us as an artist and a survivor of depression. She struggled with depression and anxiety throughout her life, especially in her forties. Her rebellion against her controlling husband was very difficult and even led to her spending time in a hospital.
After returning home, O’Keeffe gained an impressive new focus on self-care. She began to spend many months of the year away from her husband in New Mexico, where the landscape inspired her and where she could eat and sleep well. She also remained committed to her art; many famous paintings feature the landscapes she saw in the desert.”
– OSHU, Women’s Health Center.
I suffered from anxiety much more than depression. My heart goes out to O’Keeffe. My depression time was the worst time of my life. Thinking about it makes me shiver. They say her flower photos saved her life. I’ll see you on Sunday. I need to take a picture or two for my mini-sabbath day, Saturday.
