I’ve gotten into the habit of posting a morning flower these days. I like doing it; I hope you enjoy seeing it. I love the light on our compost toilet bathroom every morning. I love the sight of Zinnia creeping up the side of the best to kiss us good morning, and I love the light on the flower that used to be called the Wandering Jew but is no longer.
Sunrise on our compost toilet.
When we stir, Zinnia showers us both with kisses.
Windowsill Gallery
Note: I have good news for the kind and caring friends who saw me confuse Bud and Zip’s names and decided my brain had gone dead.
I’m giving both animals new names: Zud And Bip. Perhaps they will be able to tell them apart.
(Above, Bip, below Zud.)
I don’t want you good people worrying about me and my health. Several of you kind souls were good enough to diagnose me without even laying eyes on me once or charging a dime and deciding that my errors were a clear sign of Dementia. It would be best if you got on with your lives.
One of you even suggested I get to a doctor immediately and get my head examined, something people have been telling me to do for years. How thoughtful.
I also want to know who I am and how I got here. I am trying to remember. The last thing I recall is chasing a border collie through a street in New Jersey. And who is writing this blog, anyway?
I don’t want friends worrying about me, so to help you find meaningful lives, you seem to have very little to do. Since you seem alarmed, I’ll call Zip Dud and Bud Bip. Or did I already say that?
God bless you for assuring me that I have Dementia; I know you were looking out for me. Sorry, but I’ve forgotten your names already, and I’d like to thank you personally. You probably know me well to tell me that.
I wonder if Bud is one of the sheep and Zip is one of the dogs. There are all kinds of animals running around here. I’m confused.
Perhaps you can also help me with this: Who was that astonishing woman who recently prowled the farm looking for worms having sex and found some? I am trying to remember her name. She seems to think she lives here.
She had a refreshing way about her. I wonder if she would like to have sex with me. She was cute, and I think she likes me. She calls me all kinds of names.
Sue Silverstein, the art and community teacher at Bishop Gibbons High School, is one of the most admirable and remarkable humans I know. Instead of writing about her and her lucky art students every week, I decided to let her do it weekly. I invited her to write a column about the donations she’s received and the students she has inspired right here.
Starting Monday, she’ll become the second person besides me to have a column on Bedlamfarm.com (Maria was the first). Watching Sue’s artwork with the young explode is a joy for me, for Maria, and for many of our readers. It lifts the heart.
Thanks to the weekly donations from the Army Of Good, Sue has been able to create an exceptional art program for her students. She’s eager to share the impact of these donations and the progress of her students with you. Your support is truly making an enormous difference.
Sue moved from Bishop McGinn to Bishop Gibbons last year. It’s a longer trek, and I’m swamped with other work.
Maria and I plan to visit Sue and her students at least once a month, and I will continue writing about them, but she and I would like the donors of the work that makes her artwork possible on the blog every week. I’m very excited about this, and she is too. She will be posting her column weekly to give the good people who send her materials a look at what their generosity has accomplished.
Every work of art her students create comes from recycled and discarded materials lying around in drawers, garages, attics, and basements, which were sent by blog readers.
Her inspiring art has pulled young people off social media and into her magical classroom. She’ll tell you all about it, and so will I. Meeting Sue and becoming a friend is one of the best experiences of my life.
She is a fantastic teacher. In a time when many schools are dropping their art classes to save money, she has re-imagined art instruction in a visible and almost shockingly exciting way. I love praising her and her work, but she loves doing that, too, and she can describe it better than I can. I am proud to have my great Sue, a regular contributor to Bedlamfarm.com, which I am always looking to expand and improve.
I rarely give this space away to anyone but me. I’m happy to do it with Sue. She is the best person I know from my Willa Cather, wife.
Sue’s first column will appear here next Monday. Sue has helped thousands of young people, including recently arrived refugees from all over the world, achieve their ambitions and potential. She is a saint waiting for anointment. I’m happy she’ll be writing here and sharing the remarkable experience that is her art project.
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Today was a non-stop work day: blogging, taking photos, running errands, and going to the food pantry to take some pictures. Today, we continue with Day 3 of our Week Long Feed The Children Of The Cambridge Food Pantry Campaign. Today’s food is Campbell’s Condensed Chicken Noodle Soup, 10.5 Ounce Can (Pack of 12), $15.65.
I thank you for your support. You can read more about it here.
Daffodils
Gerber Daisy
Daffodils
Today marks the third day of our impactful Children’s Food Support Week. Each day, we’ve been able to provide food support for 66 families and 188 children, all thanks to your generous contributions.
Your support has been instrumental in ensuring these families don’t go to bed hungry. Let’s keep this momentum going until Friday.
Fruit Juice is arriving today; Instant Oatmeal is coming tomorrow, and we hope that Chicken Noodle Soup will come the day after, followed by Cinnamon Life Cereal and Chicken Ramen to end this particular week, a commitment to help these families caught in hard times. (Above, all of the food that came from the Regional Center today.)
It’s about compassion and empathy, something our country desperately needs. We are sending a message.
Today’s food choice for children is Campbell’s Condensed Homestyle Chicken Noodle Soup, 10.5 oz can, Pack of 12, priced at $15.99.
With this donation of $15.99, we can provide most families with a hearty and nutritious dinner, just like the ones grandmothers used to make, ensuring that no child in the pantry goes to bed hungry.
Each can of soup can feed at least two children in a family, which means 24 children get Chicken Noddle Soup with each pack purchased.
I went to the Pantry this morning to see the weekly delivery from the Regional Food Bank for Southeastern New York. Volunteers from here drive an hour or so to pick up the food while other volunteers wait to get it off the truck, record it, and store it in the appropriate places—shelves and refrigerators. It’s hard work, a fraction of the weekly work at a food pantry.
The volunteers say the food coming from the Regional Bank is getting smaller all the time, and today’s supply is smaller than usual. At the same time, more and more families are coming for help with food. The process is complex and physical.
This is before and after the food is sorted and placed on shelves. I have more photos to put up tomorrow, Wednesday. I have yet to meet half of the pantry volunteers.
The bottom line is that the pantry is running low on food; as always, demand is growing, and subsidies are being cut. Families and their children need some support. This, I believe, is part of the coming Compassion Revolution. The Army Of Good is on the front lines.
We decided to focus on the children this week. This food campaign aims to ensure they have enough to eat today, tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday through the weekend. We hope to cram those backpacks with good food.
Tomorrow’s food for the Feed The Children Campaign: Life Breakfast Cereal, Cinnamon, 13 oz, Boxes 3 Pack, $8.19.
Thanks again for your support and encouragement. Doing good feels good—small acts of great kindness.
To see the Cambridge Pantry’s Full Wish List, go here.
