Sylvie is one of my favorite portrait subjects, there is something regal and commanding about her. She always comes out to see when I am there and thanks me for coming. I love to take her photo and she seems to love it too.
I asked Sylvie if she needs anything, and she said she needs four tote bags, maybe five. She does a lot of studying, she is a Jehovah’s Witness. She gets many letters and writes many letters, she asked me for more stamps, which I will get on Monday.
She is also looking for four or five tote bags to hold her many documents and papers and letters. She loves to get letters and answer them. She reads religious tracts and texts.
Before I buy her the tote bags, I thought I should give the Army of Good a chance to join in, she has many pen pals in the Army. I feel especially close to Sylvie, and I think she feels close to me. Hard to know why exactly, the connection is just there.
She goes out of her way to find me when I am there, and thank me for being her friend. I go out of my way to find her.
She’s looking for a plain tote bag of any color, but she asks that there be no slogans or writing that might offend her church.. I’ll wait a week and see if any of you have any used but good quality tote bags to send her.
If not, I’ll get some canvas totes of medium to large size, they are not expensive.
If you want to send her one, old or new, you can send it to Sylvie, The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. Nothing too heavy.
She seems to run through them quickly, so if there are more than five, they will be put to use. She may give some to people once in awhile.
She is a serious letter reader and writer, she considers her letter writers to be close and loyal friends. Every time I see her she tells me who has written to her. I help her stamp and mail the return letters, many of them come back.
Feel free to writer her at the same address. Her face has great character. I’d love to do a Sylvie portrait show one day.
Richard sent me this message yesterday, it got me laughing at myself and smiling:
“You’ve come a long way, baby! It was only April and you were complaining about what rescues charge. Now you’re raising money for heartworm treatment. Bravo!”
I loved the message, and I told Richard I was far from done complaining about the way some rescue groups charge a lot of money and exclude the poor, the elderly and many people who work outside of the home.
The idea that somebody with a job can’t be a fit owner for a dog makes my blood boil, as does the idea that a Boston Terrier cannot live in a home with children. I hear too many horror stories of good and loving animal people being turned away for simply being human.
But Richard is right, I have often criticized some elements of the rescue culture for being hostile to people, unreasonable in their adoption practices and too exclusive and demanding, given that millions of dogs are languishing in crates for years in allegedly humane “no-kill” shelters.
Dogs are better off almost anywhere than living in crates for years.
Is it really true that people without tall fences can’t adopt a dog and walk them several times a day?
But the truth is rescuing animals is not new to me.
I have always had “rescue” dogs and other animals – Frida, Izzy, Orson, the sheep and donkeys, chickens, cats like Minnie and Flo.I just don’t like to talk about it.
I’ve also had purebred dogs purchased from good breeders. There are many good ways to get a dog, and I never accept the idea that there is only one.
I never refer to animals here as being “rescued” or “abused, “Those are labels people seem to need, I don’t think the animals need to see themselves in that way and be labeled, and I don’t want that to interfere with my training and attitude towards the dogs.
Nor do I believe that rescuing a dog makes me morally superior in any way.
My rescued dogs are not rescues once they come her, they are just dogs, deserving of all the love and conscientious care that Maria and I can give them. I believe I am the steward of my dogs, I believe in stewardship, speaking for them and being responsible for them.
The good people at Friends Of Homeless Animals/RI are caring for my next dog Gus, and I am impressed with them. I had the flash this week that I ought to adopt some of the adopters, I have a good platform to contribute to a group that specializes in heartworm dogs and fosters them and treats them with great love and care.
FOHA/RI, which operates all over the country, touched my heart and opened it up. I’m not big on pushing specific causes on my blog, I focus on the refugees and residents at the Mansion in elder care, and I want to continue doing that.
I’m happy to support heartworm work, but that is not really what drew me to FOHA. I just like the feel of the group and the way it works.
They have some interesting dogs up for adoption. I believe most, if not all, have heartworm. And like so many other good people and groups in America, they can put donations to good use. Treating heartworm is expensive. It is a lot less expensive to prevent heartworm than treat it.
There is this Army of Good out there supporting my work, and now, there is in my life this animal rescue organization that is sheltering and saving the most vulnerable dogs out there. We all know what happens to heartworm dogs who can’t get treatment.
Dogs are an elemental part of my work and so getting some help and attention for this group seems very natural and appealing to me. It’s a good fit for my writing and the blog. And my life as well. Please consider helping them if you can.
I will continue to poke and prod the rescue culture to think more broadly about its work, and empathize with people as well as animals.
I think FOHA does that, I am happy to support this group and their mission, and writing about them fits very naturally into the range of my writing and the nature of the blog. I hope FOHA will let me know when a dog is in great trouble, and perhaps we can do some more good.
Ali called me early this morning, and as is now our running joke, I shouted into the phone: “what do you want and how much will it cost?” Ali invariably calls on a Friday or Saturday, and that means he is hoping to take the refugee kids on the soccer team to a weekend outing to get them out of their small apartments in Albany and off of the streets.
The call usually results in my rushing out to Schagiticoke, and a convenience store called Stewart’s, which we call our “office.” We are known there, and have our favorite booth.
Our office is halfway between Ali’s house in Albany and Bedlam Farm.
Ali absolutely hates to ask for money, I think he always expects me to storm off and disappear, but I am very happy when I can be useful to Ali and these boys (and two girls), the more I get to see them, the more I love them.
And there is very little Ali could ever do that would cause me to get angry storm off, he is nothing but a gift to me, and especially to these children Most of them spent their early years in refugee camps. Many are just now learning English.
Most live with single mothers, their parents and grandparents are gone, killed or missing or in jail or a camp. Ali and I talk often about our goals for them, as the team’s official “sponsor,” i have a mystical role, they seem to think I am full of wisdom. They need everything, but hate to ask for anything.
Ali is a surrogate father to most of them, and he teaches honor, character, hard work and community.
Their parents are shy and very quiet, and very poor.
Several have invited me for dinner, and I am eager to go. They need some help too.
None of them have cars or money, they all have a fierce work and study ethic. The kids are all on the honor roll, the mothers and few fathers have multiple jobs and are rarely home. Ali and I plan to focus on the needs of the soccer tea parents in the coming weeks and months.
They all love and trust Ali.
Today, Ali said there was a funky circus coming to a town just outside of Albany. It had games, rides, donkeys and some other animals. None of these children have ever seen a circus. Ali and I both had the same thought. This is what these children, need, this is what they deserve. To see a circus with cotton candy just like almost any other kid in America can get to do.
We look for things that broaden their experience, engage and stimulate them, and connect them to other kids in America and mainstream America life. It is working the members of the team are flowering, all are on the honor rolls, learning to speak English well, getting the shoes and shirts and paints they need to wear to school.
Their parents love them, but are too engaged in surviving to do much for them outside of food and shelter. So Ali and I are trying to fill the gap.
The circus costs $14.95 – Ali take out our Iphones and pens and paper – and start adding. This is by now a familiar scene at the Stewart’s, we are just part of the scenery.
Ali wants to take as many of the 20 team players as possible, but we can’t take all of them, we don’t have that much money. I brought $300 cash for as many tickets as possible and for food and soda.
I also wrote a check for $150. The players who couldn’t get to the circus can go with Ali to see the new Mission impossible movie with Ali. He says they are dying to see the movie.
I love doing this work with Ali, and am thrilled to see the difference it has made in the lives of these children. They seem to grow every day and they are gaining confidence in their ability to live in America.
I am thrilled at the thought of these curious and warm-hearted children seeing a circus for the first time, a carousel for the first time and a ferris wheel. Ali is going to send me some photos.
Your generosity made this trip possible.
If you wish to support this work, we can always use some help. You can send a contribution to the Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected].
Today, Maria’s is offering 50 durable Flying Vulva Stickers for sale for $8 each, including shipping.
They can be used as bumper stickers, or decals or stickers, inside or outside. Maria says if anyone has problems affording a decal they should e-mail her at [email protected] and she will try and work something out.
This is her art, but it is also a labor of love. She wants these decals to be out in the world.
They will be up on Etsy sometime this afternoon, that’s where people can purchase them outright. You can also read about them and get more information on Maria’s blog.
The vulva experience has been fascinating for me, and I have enjoyed. I’ve learned a lot.
It upsets some people, but mostly, women are very interested in the resurrection of the vulva as a symbol not only of art but of freedom and strength.
And life.
I find it so curious that the vulva, which brings all of us into the world in several different ways, and has such a rich history in art and religion, has become the object of so much fascination, revulsion, and confusion.
Yesterday, I spent hours researching the history of the vulva, both as a body part and as art and symbols of fertility, spirituality, and feminism. It has all kinds of meaning to all kinds of people and was not too long ago a sacred symbol and one of the world’s oldest works of art.
Vulvas have been found on the oldest known cave dwellings. They have an awful lot of mojo as art and tokens.
Anyway, if you want one, they will be up on Etsy shortly, by 2:30 p.m. Friday.
I am, as always, proud of Maria and her vision and energy and creativity. She is a warrior for her art. I respect and appreciate her vulva also, and am happy to support her.
Hey, warning, there is more unnerving news for the righteous:
Guess what I learned yesterday?
The somewhat controversial vulva was the inspiration for the ichthys – the so-called Jesus Fish – one of the universal and most beloved symbols of the Christian faith.
I’ve been writing about the vulva ever since Maria created some vulva potholders as a symbol of freedom and strength for women. Some people didn’t like it at all. You would have thought I was running naked through Times Square.
Turn the vulva sideways and you can see it for yourself. i wonder if the good “Christians” who left my blog the other day in protest against Maria’s vulva potholders have any idea how Christianity was conceived, or what it’s symbols mean.
Perhaps not.
By now, I am used to encountering people who arrogantly invoke what it means to be a Christian while knowing absolutely nothing about Jesus or the founding ideology of Christianity.
Janice, a researcher and reader of the blog got my attention when she sent me this message yesterday:
“Jon, I believe you will find this bit of historical perspective interesting that I came across when researching the early church. The symbol of the fish displayed extensively by many Christians today was actually the symbol of the woman’s vulva. Turn it horizontally and you can see it. I do it mentally every time I see it on a bumper sticker. And chuckle to myself. If they only knew what they are promoting.”
Janice, thank you so much for alerting me to this, I put my reporter’s hat on and spent the next couple of hours poring over a number of Christian and academic websites focused on the early Christian faith, and I found a half-dozen studies and reports confirming what Janice said.
The much defamed vulva helped give birth to the Christian faith, it turns out the humble volva is actually the same symbol the pagans used for the vulva.
Go see for yourself.
Images of the vulva, one of the earliest known examples of cave carving, are also one of the oldest known examples of any kind of art work.
The vulva-shaped ichthys or “Jesus fish,” perhaps the most prominent symbol of Christianity apart from the cross, was originally a pagan symbol representing almost every pre-Christian fertility goddess from Atargatis, Aphrodite to Artemis.
When the founders of the faith gathered to spread the word about Christianity, they embraced many pagan symbols in order to attract pagan new comers to the church. Since the prophets and Popes of the new Church were men, they also needed to knock down the Goddesses the pagans worshipped.
Until the rise of Christianity, Pagans had always worshipped goddesses and celebrated fertility as the source of all life (rather than a source of shame and “disgust.”)
The people who drafted the Gospels and early Biblical writings were all mostly older men.
They altered the status and power of women in their new faith. Over time, men have insisted that women be ashamed of their bodies and hide them, since women are presumed to be evil and dangerous to men.
The goddesses were absorbed into the church and turned into saints, all of them now deferential to the hierarchy and authority of the church.
The early Christians also took existing pagan symbols and gave them new meaning.
Asherah, the ancient goddess of new life, and her symbol the snake, who sheds his skin to demonstrate regeneration, became an associate of the devil, who in Christian dogma, now carried her snake with him everywhere to show that women are innately evil.
No wonder women started to hide their vulvas.
In fact, the vagina (and the vulva) were once considered a profoundly sacred thing, the gateway between heaven and planet Earth. (I like that description, it’s how I feel about vaginas) I recommend The Vagina: A Literary And Cultural History by Emma Rees.
In the Indian Tantric culture 1,500 years ago, people believed that female body parts were life-giving, and if men ever wanted to achieve balance and health, they must learn how to respect and handle that region of a woman’s body, which was referred to as a “flowery pool” or “mysterious gate.”
Last week, a number of women who read my piece about Maria’s vulva potholders told me they thought it was “disgusting” and “gross” and sacrilegious for me to even show them on my blog. Several people who called them “Christians” left the blog in horror.
As it happens, icthys is the Greek word for fish, which inspired the name of the child of the fish-goddess Atargatis. The worship of Atargatis pre-dates Christianity by hundreds of years, and used fertility (the vulva) and then the resulting fish. Historians and theologians and researchers all say that was the origin of the fish use as a universal symbol of Christianity.
Maria thought the vulva is special, but I’m not sure even she knew how significant it is as a symbol of spirituality and religion. I wonder what the proper Christians who fled in disgust from the vulva might make of it now.
In our country, there is real concern about whether truth or facts matter any more. I think they do.
So thanks Janice, I am loving the tour of vaginal history you provoked. Actually anyone can take this trip, I recommend it. I hope the women who seemed to find this part of them disgusting will read more about it and learn about the history of their bodies.
There is nothing there that I find disgusting, gross or hateful. I do celebrate the vagina, and not just for women. For me as well.
