Bedlam Farm Blog Journal by Jon Katz

I am proud to introduce the third Wish List I have suggested in my wondrous work with the Army Of Good. The first was the RISSE Refugee Amazon Wish List – soon to be restarted – the second was the Amazon Mansion Wish List.

And today, WBTN took my suggestion and put up their first WBTN Amazon Wish List. And boy, do they need one. Their studio is a shambles, they work with Korean War-era equipment and they need just about everything there is in the world.

The Wish List works. I bought the first item – there are only three to start – a Wall Mounted Paper Towel Holder for $19.99. The other two items are a toner and plastic mat.

They’re not exactly shooting for the moon.

It’s been so long since the people at WBTN could buy anything for the station that they are stunned at the very idea of a Wish List, which they had never heard of.

I hope you’ll take a look, these items are not expensive and are a great place to start out.

I hope we can support this struggling community radio station, it needs to live and deserves to live.

NOTE: If you’re purchasing an item on the Wish List for the first time, you’ll need the address and phone number for WBTN: The address is 407 Harwood Hill, Bennington, Vt., 05201. The phone number is 802 442 6321. You can if you wish, save this address in the checkout address list.

My Talking To Animals radio broadcast begins at 1 p.m. Wednesday the 17th. It runs for two hours, and you can live stream the broadcast here, and call me at this number: 866 406 9286.

You can also e-mail me any questions you might have about dogs, cats or other animals. We mostly will be dealing with pets, but I’ve also had cows, goats, sheep, donkeys, dogs, chickens and barn cats.

For podcast: http://www.wbtnam.us  pick a feed use the drop down list for Bennington Today. And select the date. Then to the right is either play or download to listen to past shows.

I hope you’ll check out this modest Wish List. In a nation being torn apart by corporate media, it is essential that community radio stations like WBTN survive, they are one of the very last bastions where real people get to speak out and have their voices heard.

Check out the WBTN Wish List here.

Ruth’s husband Ken died a couple of weeks ago and the Mansion had a memorial service for him last week. Ruth asked if I would take a photo for her room, and I had one printed out and brought it to her tonight.

Ruth is grieving for Ken, they were inseparable, but she has a wondrous sense of humor and when she came down the stairs, she decided to pose for me, she calls it her pin-up pose.

Ruth is brave, I know how much she misses Ken, but she loves the Mansion and has made many friends there. She calls Peggie..”Ma…”

I found out that Ruth is in great need of some winter clothes, especially  a bathrobe and some nightgowns. I found some tonight and I’ll get them to her on Monday or Tuesday. (I have what she needs).  The cold is coming.

This is the stuff I love, when I can get small things that make a huge difference. I have become a whiz at buying personal and intimate garments for women. That doesn’t sound quite right, but it’s true.

Thanks for your contributions: Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected]. Just mark the payment “The Mansion” and thanks. Contributions large and small are welcome. We keep it small.

Tia Smith is a Mansion aide, I call them the Better Angels. They work hard, are paid little, are unfailingly patient and caring. You have to have a lot of heart to work as an aide in a Medicaid Assisted Care facility.

Tia works the night shift and makes sure everyone has taken their medication and gets to bed comfortably.

She and others are on the front lines of this unsparing and emotional work, they are the humanity that the residents cling to, the only people they often see day in and day out, and in the most intimate and difficult settings, from getting dressed to going to the bathroom to help taking medications, dealing with all kinds of accidents.

They take care of our aging mothers, and sometimes our fathers as well.

In a just world, they would be handsomely paid for the critical and urgently necessary work they do. They are the people the residents turn to when they are sad, lonely, frightened or sick.

They know who needs slippers, socks, pants, sweaters,  robes and underwear because they help the residents dress. They monitor their medications, fill in their memory blanks, I’ve seen the many times pay for things out of their own pockets if the residents are short of cash.

They have inspired me and also helped me to understand what help is, and who really needs it. Tonight, the residents came to me – some asked Tia and Megan to talk to me – and I came home with a list of things that are needed: shoes for the Fall, stretch pants, nightgowns, winter bathrobes.

I’m on it.

It’s going to be cold this weekend, and I know on Monday I will have a bigger list of things than usual, and I will make my rounds of thrift stories and visits to Amazon. Time to make sure everybody has what they need to be warm.

Sometimes the angels take me aside in the hallway and tell me somebody’s shoes have holes, and sometimes they come up to me on my rounds with Red and slip me a piece of paper that says “Donna: size 10, sneakers/fall shoes.” Nothing else needs to be said, I go and find a shoe that size and bring it to the Mansion.

I try to do it quickly, i don’t like money to sit around in the Mansion Fund.

Small acts of great kindness. I wanted to make sure tonight to honor these dedicated people who brighten some hard lives. They represent our Better Angels to me, it gives me great hope to see everyday how good some people are who share our world.

This work is a calling, it can be hard and unforgiving, and some day, as compassion grows in the world, they will get the recognition and compensation their jobs deserve.

And tonight, Peggie came up to me at Bingo and said a friend has offered to pay to take her on a short cruise, somewhere beautiful and warm for a couple of days. Peggie wants to go but she has  no suitcase with wheels, something she would need to travel. She leaves Tuesday.

I told her I’ll find one Saturday somewhere, and have it her before Wednesday. I’ll be checking around tomorrow.

If you want to support this work, please send your contributions, large or small to Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected]. Please write “The Mansion” on the check so I can make sure it goes where you want it to go.

And thanks.