Bedlam Farm Blog Journal by Jon Katz

I was startled to see Maria’s blog post today in which she announced that this weekend’s Open House, our 8th, would be the last Open House, at least the last one on its current form.

I knew she was moving in that direction after this weekend, but I was away most of the day, and I didn’t know how certain she was about it.

I agree completely with her reasoning, although I do feel sad about it.

Each year, the attendance has declined, even as the audiences reading our blogs and buying her art has steadily increased.

Maria wants to take  her ideas about art and creativity online, where so many people are now.

This is the conundrum of our time. It changes.

We are not the kind of people to sit on our hands. We changed every single thing in our lives to move forward, and we are committed to keep moving forward. Nostalgia is a trap for the backward-looking.

And wow, have times changed.

I believe almost everything involving any kind of commerce or connections with people seem to be moving online, including books, and including us. I read all the time that people are spending  more and more time online, and less and less going to see other people.

The irony is that my blog is soaring with traffic and has never been more widely read. That is also true of Maria’s blog.

But the number of people who want to come here to see us and meet us and see our animals and and buy the art of rural artists is diminishing every year. Part of this is about me, I think, I haven’t published a book in a couple of  years and my books drew many people here to see us.

And also, there are our blogs. People can get plenty of us without stepping out of their homes.

The books and my work was never the point of the Open Houses, they were meant to be a celebration of Maria’s art and creativity and encouragement, and the rich art in rural life,  to the end, they were faithful to that.

We are both so grateful to the good people who came to see us, sometimes from  great distances.

So many people found inspiration and encouragement here, we were so touched by their visits and testimonies.

But from this side, it was hard to witness the toll it was taking on Maria.

She had to dismantle her studio weeks ahead of the Open Houses, and it took weeks to put it back together again. In all that time, she couldn’t work and didn’t have the time to make enough art to sell.

It was easier for me, my job was helping prepare and taking the dogs out to herd sheep and hosting donkey visits.

It was financially as well as physically difficult, and we had to spend hundreds of dollars on banners, posters, help and repairs. The Open Houses were not ever really profitable.

Talking yesterday with me, Maria she said had had enough,  she wanted to think of new creative ways to celebrate her work and the art of rural life, ways that didn’t involve exhausting her and shutting down her work. She already met with some of the artists to plan something  different for next year, something smaller.

We don’t wish to measure our lives or art by the numbers of people who come to see us. The small crowd stirred us up, we both felt the idea and time of an event like the Open House had passed.

In my work and Maria’s, we have been on the cutting edge, forward looking and in our minds, quite successful. So Maria has decided- and I agree –  that this Open House was the last of its kind, we will no longer expect or seek to draw large numbers of people here.

I suppose anything that seems familiar can seem humdrum, but I will never forget the faces and stories of people who traveled so far to thank us or meet us or just see us. They are etched in my memory.

And I will miss the sheepherding talks and demos, they were the most fun for me.

We will come up with something that fits into the scale of our lives, and especially Maria’s art, and also of the community of artists she cares so much about. Something that takes better advantage of the many people who follow us every day but who can’t come to our Open Houses.

Perhaps something online.

I enjoyed this Open House, ironically, as much or more than any other. The small crowd worked for me.

Because so few people came, I could actually talk to them. And I loved that.

Change is at the heart of creativity, and if you can’t change, the creative spark goes out. Believe me, we will come up with something new and interesting.

“It’s just time to move on,” Maria said, “it’s not a big deal. We will think of something different to do.”

It is time.

I told Maria Sunday that something felt wrong to me. More than 99 per cent of the people who follow her art couldn’t come, didn’t come and wouldn’t come. The same is true of my blog and book readers.

That doesn’t make sense.

Next year, online or off, we need to build a better and bigger tent, one that doesn’t involve so much disruption in our daily lives, and that lets more people come in and see.

It feels almost shockingly right to be trying to get this radio show off of the ground. The station is hanging by a thread, but thanks to Thomas Lawrence Toscano, the iconoclast musical conductor and former opera singer, it is till alive.

I hope dogs and me and the subject of pets can offer an injection into the station. I will certainly give it my best, and as many of you have told me, I don’t lack will.

All I ask of you pet lovers and blog and book followers is that you think of calling me between 11 a.m. and noon free of charge at 866 406 9286 or if you live in Vermont, 802 442 1010.

The show is live streamed everywhere, and I am thinking there is a large audience out there that wants to listen to some thoughtful talk about animals and get past the polarization and arguing that infects the animal world as well as the political world.

I like to talk about how to get a dog, how to train a dog, how to grieve for a dog, and I’ve also lived with cows, sheep, barn cats and chickens. There are so many things to talk about when it comes to animals, so if you want to talk about any of them or ask me a question about pets and animals, feel free to call.

This is an exciting new turn in my life and it feels very much in keeping with the work I have been doing since 2016. I want to help this station survive, in the Corporate Nation, we desperately need media  that is open to the average person, not just to billionaires and blowhards.

So yes, another cause I think is good for our times.

You can ask about anything if it relates to animals. And please remember, there is a seven second delay, please turn your radio down when you get to ask your question.

I want to take our right to speak back and help give voice to people who aren’t billionaires and blowhards. You can help by supporting this effort. I love talking about dogs and their lives, so call if you are interested. The station is WBTNAM.org and all you have to do is click on “live.”

The toll free number is 866 406-9286. 11 a.m. to noon. I hope to hear from you.

 

You are invited to join me on my great new experiment on Community Radio this Thursday at ll a.m. until noon.

Thomas Lawrence Toscano is a remarkable person, he is almost single-handedly keeping Community Radio Station WBTNAM radio alive in Bennington, Vt. He describes himself as a composer, conductor and philosopher and I can already testify that he is all of those things.

I call him “Maestro,” he has been working in the music world for 61 years.

Toscano is a former opera singer and the producer of a  Brooklyn Opera Company before he moved to Vermont. He is funny, outspoke, a fiercely individualistic man and he is working day and night to keep community radio alive.

He has the gruff Brooklyn exterior down, but he has a big heart, and a great passion for his bleeding little radio station. When I went to see him today, he was all alone in the station and had been for  hours.

Today, he and I spent a couple of intensely creative hours together putting together a promo for the dog/animal talk show I am trying to host for the radio station. Come and listen.

This is certainly selfish – I have always wanted my own radio show – but I also passionately believe in community radio, not easy for anyone anywhere in the country to listen to thanks to new streaming technology.

Just go to their website and click on “live.” I have volunteered (taking no money) to host a weekly one hour talk show focusing on dogs, cats and any other pets people wish to talk about.

We are doing a dry run on the station this coming Thursday at ll a.m. You can access this broadcast live here. The station is on the edge, perhaps a dog talk show could  help.

Thomas asked me who my favorite musician was and I answered instantly: Van Morrison. We went on his approved list of music we could play and we both went right to “Bright Side Of The Road,” which is my favorite Van Morrison song. It’s going to be the theme song of “Talking About Animals.” Come and listen.

If you live in the Southern Vermont area, you can call the show at 802 442-1010. If you live outside of the listening area, you can hear the broadcast free anywhere in the country  by slicking on the “live” prompt on the top of the website home page and streaming it.

It’s just that simple. You don’t need an app to do that and it costs nothing.

You can also call the show and talk to me toll free: 866 406-9298.

Thomas says the station has gotten few callers in recent months, I hope we can help alter that. I have high hopes for a hopefully intelligent talk show focused on pets and animals.

I also hope I can help draw some volunteers and sponsors and donations to the station, the equipment looks as if it was purchased just before the Korean War, there are almost no volunteers, WBTN is in dire straits, if you like the animal show, feel free to donate a few dollars directly to the station.

I told Thomas the cavalry might well be on the way, but you never know for sure.

I think this is a worthy cause for the Army Of Good, here pennies will make a big difference. You can donate online here if you want to support community radio – a true voice of the people – and push back on the hideous corporate takeover of our media – just see what that has wrought upon us.

We hope to find a local sponsor for my show, or a sponsor interested in pets and animals. We’ll see.

Thursday is a dry run, a test to see if this could work under very difficult circumstances.  At the moment, the station can only broadcast on AM. They are hoping to somehow acquire an FM transmitter.

I can talk a long while, but I hope there are calls, that some of you have questions for me on this trial run. Any questions relating to dogs, cats, horses, sheep, ponies, even fish will be most welcome. 866 406-9286.

I love everything about this station, it needs to live.

I’m heading to WBTN, a community radio station in Bennington, Vt. to prepare promo for a radio show – “Talking To Dogs” – that i am planning to do for the station. I am a great supporter of community radio, especially in this time of corporate greed and abuse of media power.

Community radio gives voice to people who don’t have a voice, and I’ve always wanted to have my own radio show. I’m  not sure why the Fish Fry wagon is out front of the studio, but I’ll find out today.

We’re doing more promos this Thursday, and hopefully the radio call-in show will air next Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m., pending some unexpected surprise. This station is hanging on by a thread, and I hope to help draw listeners, volunteers and maybe some sponsors.

This is the kind of media that needs to live. I’ll make sure to get the right call in number, I hope many of you will call in to talk about dogs with me, I see this show as a conversation, a safe and open place to talk about our love for animals, the challenges of training them, the joys of living with them, how to get them, etc.

I’m excited about this, it is a natural evolution for me, and a good thing to do these days. This station needs to live, and I’d be excited to have a place where I can have a running conversation about dogs.

The station is live-streamed everywhere, everyone can hear it and everyone  can call in. ((Some people might need an am radio app.)  I’ll report back this afternoon.

 

I’m working daily to train Bud to be around the donkeys and sheep in the pasture. Maria took this video of the training this morning. I wanted to walk you through my process.

First, I’m training Bud to ease off on eating manure and sheep droppings. It isn’t by itself harmful, but it is usually the sign of an aroused dog, and he needs to learn to be calm in the pasture.

I’m also teaching  him to respond to me. Out in a farm field with real animals, control is everything. When a border collie or other dog is too aroused, they don’t hear human commands or  respond to them. That is dangerous.

An aroused dog can also hurt a sheep or even a donkey, or provoke a dangerous counterattack. Anybody can get hurt when animals panic.

So I need to acclimate Bud to the pasture, show him what his work is out there, and make sure that if I call him, he will come.

If I need to use my foot or a sharp voice to get his attention I will do it. He must listen to me out there. So much dog  training depends on the mindset of the trainer. If I give a command, it must be responded to. My dignity and control everybody’s safety depends on it.

I believe I must be the pack leader for Bud, and he is a dominant dog. That means we will clash from time to time, and I must win if we are to have the live together that I want and he will love.

Dogs are  very quick to pick up on multiple choice humans, those who bark commands but don’t insist that they be followed. That costs many more dog lives than abuse. It also sets the tone for a contentious and frustrating relationship.  It’s not fair but Bud must do what I tell him to do, and quickly.

Here, in the video, I have brought treats so that I can reward Gus for coming to me, and I always make eye contact before I hand over the treat. I also almost always ask for something in return – sit, stay, etc. In dog training, nothing is free.

This training session went very well. Bud, who has a lot of prey drive, was highly aroused at first. I put him on a leash, moved slowly and deliberately, called him to me repeatedly, rewarded him each time, asked him to sit before each treat. More and more, he is.

That was the positive reinforcement part.

The other part was when he started gobbling up chunks of donkey manure despite my repeated commands to “leave it.” When he blew me off for the fourth or fifth time, I had to regain control: I shot my foot out and tapped him in the side, which startled him but also got him to pay attention to me again.

I also offered the treats as an alternative food, and I believe I saw him start to prefer the treats to the manure.

Bud remained calm after that, and stopped scarfing up gobs of donkey manure. All in all, a very fine training session. I was patient, clear and vigilant. He did everything I wanted him to do.

This kind of training will take patience and clarity, it will challenge me to focus and think. I’ll keep you posted. It will take a couple of months and there will be ups and downs, mistakes on my part and lapses on his. We’ll get there if I am serious about it.

He is a great dog to work with, full of energy, instinct and intelligence.