Bedlam Farm Blog Journal by Jon Katz

Welcome to the first day of Spring, 2019 the most important day in the life of any farm, the day when planting can begin.

Here on Bedlam Farm, this is an important day we are planning a bonfire and I’m cooking a meal for us to eat  out by the fire. The Equinox is not caused by the earth’s rotation, but because the planet has a tilted axis at this time. Spring comes when the sun’s warming rays line up perpendicular to Earth’s axial tilt.

This event, sacred for many thousands of years, signals the arrival of spring, winter’s end, and increasingly warm and bright days that precede the coming of summer. This is the day farmers and rural people prayed for, celebrate and wait for every day of winter.

To me, it is a holiday of color and light, and I am a warrior for color and light. Maria is a pagan at hear, she has been collecting dead wood and cardboard boxes for days for our fire.

Our winters are long and hard, but that’s what makes Spring so precious to us. Soon, time to plant the gardens. No wood stove fires today it’s 50 degrees. Color and light are food for my soul, this is happy day for me.

On some level, the animals sense this holiday, it is a time when they begin to shed.

I am grateful to live in a place where this holiday truly matters. I wish all of you a meaningful spring equinox, and a time of warm and love and peace.

As you know, dogs are  not permitted on the furniture in our farmhouse. I intend to talk to Bud and Fate about this.

Today is radio day, time for my weekly broadcast, “Talking To Animals,” broadcast from WBTMAM1370 but available anywhere in the world through live streaming and  free radio apps like Simple Radio. The program is re-broadcast from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. E.D.T. Wednesday nights and is also a podcast: WBTNAM.US.

The program is one from one to 2:30, it’s now 90 minutes long. Two numbers to call 802 442-1010 and 866 406 9286. You can e-mail me your questions anytime and I’ll read them on the air and talk about them: [email protected].

Live calls are important, this is community radio. It’s your show too, and if you don’t participate, there won’t be a show. I’m getting lots of messages, so I know you’re out there. Jump in.

The fascinating Thomas Toscano will be with me during the program and Maria will call around 2 p.m., we will talk about our experiences with the animals of Bedlam Farm

Lots of good stuff to talk about today. I’ve been on an animal intelligence, consciousness research binge lately for the program, focusing on five excellent works on the subject of animals and their intelligence and relationship to human beings:

The books are Mama’s Last Hug by Frans De Wall; In The Company Of Animals by James Serpell; How Dogs Think, The Intelligence of Dogs, and How To Speak Dog, all by Stanley Coren.

I also greatly value The Other End Of The Leash, Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs, by Patricia McConnell, and The Soul Of An Octopus, A Surprising Exploration Into The Wonders of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery.

I’d also recommend The Dog’s Mind by Bruce Fogle, an experienced veterinarian who writes about dog consciousness and behavior.

I’m going to talk about some of the major questions raised and addressed in these books: How smart are our dogs and cats? What is the difference between animal emotions and animal feelings? It is healthy to own a pet, are we nicer than non pet owners? What are we learning about animal consciousness? Is extreme animal grieving a mental health pathology?

Good stuff, I’d love to hear our thoughts and experiences, I really hate talking to myself for hours. So does my voice.

So call if you can: 802 442-1010, 866 406-9286, e-mail if you can’t: [email protected].

Talking To Animals resumes this afternoon, Wednesday, one to 2:30 p.m. on WBTNAm1370. You can live stream the show here, or you  can call 866-406-9286 or 802 442-9286. I’ll also discuss your questions of e-mailed to [email protected], tonight, tomorrow or during the show. I hope to hear from you, one way or the other.)

Every morning, just after 8 a.m., my daughter Emma takes her 10-month old mixed breed dog Sandy to the wide and open grasslands of Fort Greene Park in Brooklyn, where dogs are permitted to run off leash for two hours each morning.

When I lived in New York, and ever since, I’ve heard  horror stories about New York City dog play groups, said to be filled with neurotic and irresponsible dog owners, out of control and aggressive dogs and eccentric and wildly permissive dog lovers.

Fort Green park shattered that stereotype for me. The park is gorgeous, there is plenty of room for the dogs to run, this morning there were 50 or 60 dogs in the park (Emma’s dog Sandy is on the left of the above photo.)

The potential for mayhem seemed strong to me, but the dogs were  well-behaved, the owners vigilant and conscientious, and the dogs played and ran with one another, chased balls ran in circles around each other until their dogs hung out, and then they went home.

The dogs were clean, well-groomed, well-trained and well-behaved with one another.

The space was beautiful and vast. The dogs had plenty of room to run. The people who wanted to play in a crowd of dogs gathered in one part of the park, the people who wanted a more quiet dog experience  had plenty of room.

I appreciated the way people watched their dogs – there were ball stealers and dogs that got too aroused, people stepped in and got their dogs to behave.

Sandy got a 30 minute workout, he was panting at the end and went home.

It is remarkable to see  how dogs can adapt to new environments, just a few months ago Sandy was running wild and in trouble in Kentucky, now she goes to a bit city park every morning, chases balls and plays. She hit the jackpot.

Emma has a one-word command- “back”‘- and when she  uses it, Sandy comes racing back from wherever she is.

Given  the chance, dogs will adapt to almost anything. I enjoyed these early morning walks, Emma loves that dog dearly and has done a great job training here. It was fascinating to see how dog loves in New York manage to find a way to give their dogs full and healthy lives.

It was once considered in appropriate to have a dog in New York City, few apartments allowed them. That has changed, dogs have moved into the center of people’s lives there. These dogs looked great – great coats, healthy and fit.

I’m back from a two-day visit to Brooklyn to see my daughter Emma (and her husband Jay) and my granddaughter Robin. It was the ritualistic visit from grandpa, I sent several boxes if gifts and books ahead of me so I wouldn’t have to lug them on the subways.

I read to Robin, went to  her day care center, we laughed and tickled each other. It is definitely true that there is a blood connection between grandparents and kids, Robin was happy to see me, and acted as if she knew me well. We had a lot of fun together, it seemed important to everyone, including me, that I go.

Robin is very bright, like her mother, which is not a surprise.

She has a devilish gleam in her eye, she is always ready to mix it up. I started out  the minute I walked in the door saying that I was Robin, and she was grandpa, and she thought this a riot and we went back and forth for two days about it. As I left, I acknowledged that she really was Robin, and she thought that was even funnier.

She is on the cusp of speaking fully, of reading, of knowing music. She loved the toy guitar I got her, and the multi-colored owl that she carried around with her and slept with.

She made some drawings for me. She loved the DVD player that I got her, she can watch movies and listen to music on it. It can also go on trips, which can make traveling much easier for Emma and Jay.

Emma and Jay are both frantically busy, their small apartment is  blanketed with toys and books and stickers, the look any couple with a two-year old has to contend with. There is no untouched or empty space on any surface.

Robin is strong willed. She has a great sense of humor. She likes being the center of attention for as long as possible and for as much as possible. In her day care center – she’s been in day care since she was four months old – she’s learned to handle herself like a Brooklyn kid.

She knows how to push her parents buttons, and also when to stop.

When another two-year old tried to take her chair in the museum lobby, the kid ended up on her butt. It just took one push.

Robin is very cute, and she knows it. She can turn on the charm and manipulate if she needs to.

I can see the strength and confidence that  Emma and Jay – who work day and night in their apartment – have instilled in her. She is a child of entitlement. She can sing Johnny Cash songs and recite lyrics and words from many Disney and Muppet movies.

She misses nothing and ponders everything. I took her to see the Frieda Kahlo exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum (I bought Maria a Tote Bag full of souvenirs).

The exhibit featured a dozen glass displays with some of Kahlo’s well-known clothes.
“That’s Frieda Kahlo!,” exclaimed Robin. “And THAT’s Frida Kahlo! So many Frida Kahlo’s!” There is something precious about the way a child sees the world.

Emma is very happy. She has a great job, a wonderful kid, a husband she adores. She loves Brooklyn and is determined never to leave. And she knows that means paying big bills for the rest of her days. And working hard.

I think it was a good visit. Emma wants me in her life, and so, clearly does Robin. I’m in the way I can be in. We won’t be seeing each other as often as the other grandparents, but Robin is expressing interest in the farm, the donkeys, the chickens and barn cats.

I can see and feel that we already matter to one another. Emma said when I left, Robin told her “it was fun to hang out with Me-paw (her name for me.”

There is talk of driving her up the farm this summer, and Emma is so tired she’s even talking of letting her stay on the farm for a few weeks. I was sorry Emma is so pressed, a demanding job, a precious and willful kid.

The visit to the farm during summers could work.

I much enjoyed spending time with her, and also getting time to talk to Emma, just the two of us. That rarely happens, and it seems to be getting easier with each visit. We have similar ideas about humor and hell-raising. She has the devil’s gleam in her eyes.

I love the energy and intensity of New York, I love meeting surly people of many different colors and faiths, I loved the quality and diversity of the food.

Emma arranged me to rent a sky-high three bedroom apartment with a stunning view of the New York skyline. We had a blast exploring food booths and different foods, an abundance of riches in Brooklyn.

Emma’s new dog Sandy, a mix of many breeds, including Kentucky hound, is a sweetheart and it was uplifting to see her and the other dogs in the morning dog play group. Emma has done a good job raising Robin and training Sandy.

New York dogs are encouraged to chase balls, because that is the quickest way to exercise them quickly.

Brooklyn is overwhelming hip, booming and obsessed with itself. It seems to be replacing Manhattan as the new cultural center of the universe.

Lots of rich stick people, yuppies, obscenely tall buildings, giant indoor malls with $18 sandwiches, writers, media types and hedge fund managers.

I went for several long walks around Brooklyn by myself, took a few photos, went with Emma to  the gorgeous and huge dog part in Fort Greene, just a quarter-of-a mile from her apartment (I’ll write about that later). The dog park was a happy surprise.

We had lunch at a fabulous restaurant, Emma and I, I do miss being able to eat food like that. I walked miles and miles, got a couple of blisters, and very sore legs. I am very happy to be sleeping next to Maria tonight, it is good to be apart, it is  hard to be apart.

It is also hard to be so removed from my daughter’s life, but I have accepted that, and I don’t see it changing.

I think everybody got what they wanted and needed on this trip – me, Emma, Robin. Emma and Jay (and Robin) were extremely nice and hospitable to me. I was glad to, glad to return.

I think Robin knows she has a crazy grandfather. Life goes on. “Taking To Animals,” my radio show, returns to the air tomorrow from one to 2:30 p.m. on WBTNAM1370. you can live stream the show here or on any free radio apple. I use Simple Radio . The show is going to be 90 minutes from now on, I think two hours was too long for me and my voice.

Please call at 802 442 1010 and 866 406 -9286. This is a community radio project, a nearly impossible mission. But it is beginning to jell. If you don’t call or participate, the show can’t work.

Maria and I talked about our lives with animals during the last  half-hour. We are also considering a Bedlam Farm podcast.

You are also free to e-mail me at [email protected] with any questions relating to dogs or other animals.  check my e-mail during the broadcast, but you can e-mail me any time before or after the show, including tonight, with your questions.

I’m happy to be home. Hope to hear from you tomorrow.