Bedlam Farm Blog Journal by Jon Katz

Ellen is most often found sitting in her favorite chair at the end of the Mansion hallway, she likes to keep an eye on people going to the office or the dining room. She is sweet and quiet and she loves to see Red, she loves to pet him and talk to him.

We usually go to the Mansion in the late afternoon, when the organized activities have slowed down and people are happy for a visit. Red has his regular stops – the office, Ellen, the activity room.

Spring is close and there will be some changes in clothes needed for the residents. I hope to plan some outings as well – lunches, carriage rides, picnics, visits to our farm.

If you care to contribute to this work, your support will be welcome. You can donate to the Mansion Fund via Paypal, or if you prefer, send a check to Jon Katz, Mansion Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. And thanks.

Without the Army Of Good, there would be no Mansion Fund or refugee scholarships.

Yesterday, Maria and I went to Second Hand Rose, one of her favorite thrift shops – it’s in Schuylerville, N.Y. This thrift shop is one of Maria’s favorites, every inch is crammed with old china, and bric-a-bracs and discarded clothes and fabrics.

Maria is happiest in thrift shops and museums. (and the woods), she is very serious and methodical when she enters a thrift shop, her eyes scan quickly and confidently, she makes instant choices and carries them over one arm.

She covers every inch of the thrift shop in seconds, pausing only for what she knows she wants. I’ve never seen her spent more tan $20 in a thrift shop, and rarely that much. I loved the feel of those old thrift shops, run by serious and professional older women.

They are filled with feeling and emotion.

Some photos capture the feel of a place. In this shot, a spectrum, a tableau of different but important elements that make up life on the farm. Here, Ed Gulley’s Tin Man, the brown hen crossing to her roost, and Fate waiting eagerly and impatiently to go and run around the sheep. Small things, a spectrum, symbols of a life.

To me a great teacher, the kind of teacher I aspire to be, is a  teacher who challenges with one hand and encourages with the other. The good teacher is always pushing, pushing, pushing, stretching the boundaries of the student while never cutting or hurting them or making them feel small or foolish.

It is not a simple thing to be a great teacher, Christine Decker is a great teacher, she guided us and watched over us and filled us with a sense of wonder and possibility. That is what a great teacher does. Thanks Christine.

Last night, I told The Story Of Red, from his life in Ireland to his coming to America to Karen Thompson’s idea that he should come to me, to our very powerful hospice and therapy work together. Red and I are fused, as spirit dogs and their humans often are. I don’t know any more where he begins and I end.

I suppose I will soon find out. I told the audience Red is failing, yet it was not a sad or discouraging story, I think – hope – it was filled with gratitude and hope. Red has been perhaps the greatest gift I have ever received, apart from Maria, and I’m not going to mourn that.

Maria took this photo of me on her Iphone. I wore my slouch hat to keep the lights from blinding people with my bald spot. I felt at home at the Oldcastle Theater in Bennington, in my element, surrounded by people I like and am comfortable with.

This theater company is creative without being elitist or standoffish. People just feel at home there, I want to be a part of the Oldcastle. I’ll start by putting up a photo show there, at their request.  I think I’ve said enough about Red for the moment, I know there’ll be more to come.