Search Results for: bingo night at the mansion

This morning, I got an e-mail from my weather app announcing what they call a “wind advisory,”  which will remain in effect until 3 p.m. Saturday. I was warned about winds that blow down trees, limbs and power lines and threaten “high profile” vehicles. These wind will range from 20 to 30 miles per hour, maybe up to 50 miles per hour,  I wonder if I am a high profile human, and might be blown over as well.

Old men with heart disease are often advised to stay indoors and peek out the window to see when it’s safe to go out and get the mail.

I did go outside, I wanted to see this new cold front blow across our little valley, and I was rewarded for my  troubles. I think I will venture outside again tonight, to call the Bingo game at the Mansion, and also tomorrow afternoon, to see my class read from their work at Battenkill Books at 2 p.m. I feel kind of brave and strong this weekend.

And I love what a wind advisory looks like, the air so fresh and cool, the colors so vibrant and alive. I wonder if we shall ever again live without advisories that tell us what we can see.

My friends in the Midwest – stoics all – tell me the brutal cold they have endured is beginning to ease. They know that when it thaws this weakened, there will be an epidemic of broken pipes, potholes and structural damage.

We are luckier here. We have been living below zero more than above for much of the week, it is also supposed to begin to ease Sunday and into next week. Then we shall have flooding and ice jams to sort through.

Our Gulley Bridge leading to the woods has been destroyed by the weather, Ed would have come storming over her to fix it, sub-zero or not, and without gloves or heavy jacket, but we’ll find another way to get to our woods. Ed had a knack for that sort of thing.

Mostly, we feel nothing but lucky. We have two wood stoves, a shed full of wood, a heating oil tank full of oil, a snug and well-built farmhouse up on a rise, a foundation that hasn’t moved an inch in a couple of hundred years. They knew what they were doing.

We have an abbreviated chore schedule when it’s this cold. Life below zero is not as hard on writers as it is on others. I work more or less in the same way I do when it’s warm – sitting at my desk, surrounded by dogs.

Maria does the hay, I warm up the cards and fill the water tank, Red and Bud stay inside.  It’s too rough on their paws. We have it down to five or ten minutes, it’s hard to be out longer than that when it’s below zero and there’s a wind.

I stop here to think of the 21 people who died in the cold in the Midwest and Plains States, I pray this suffering will soften the hearts of the greedy and arrogant men and women who value money over the very earth we live on, and that our children and grandchildren will have to live on.

Tonight, our last Bingo game a the Mansion before the return of the wandering residents next week. I was very happy with the Hat Party we had, we need to do more of those.

Good morning, an important day for me. First, I have to figure out how to help the Mansion residents, many of whom are scattered in different places as the  Mansion works to repair roof  and flooding damage.

Most of the residents were evacuated hurriedly from the Mansion a couple of day ago when some of the floors flooded.

I’m also going to Albany this morning to meet with Alex Borgess, a student at the Albany Academy, who wants to work with me to raise some scholarship money for a young refugee student who has applied to the school.

Alex has made it his school senior project to help make the school more diverse, and he proposes to raise $5,000 to $6,000 to make up the difference between what the school can offer and this gifted refugee student and her family can afford.

Alex has already raised a considerable amount and we will talk about ways to use my blog, perhaps a gofundme page, and the families at the school and people outside this community to raise some money.

Hopefully, the school will offer the bulk of the scholarship support.

My job has been to find the refugee students and help them apply. And to help raise money if needed.

I have the student, the school wants this to happen, it’s up to Alex and me to do the rest. The families in the school also want to help.

This can happen, I am sure of it, it is the new direction for me when it comes to helping the refugees, along with supporting the RISSE Amazon Wish List, which has two new items up today. So I look forward to meeting with Alex at lunch today, I’ll  report back.

This afternoon, I hope to visit as many of the displaced residents as I can find, and then Maria and I will host a Bingo game at the Mansion, for the three or four residents who have remained there. Hopefully, everyone will get back home to the Mansion over the next few days.

Thanks for the donations which came in last night, support for the Mansion residents will be appreciated, I’m trying to figure out how best to help. I know we will be needed.

(Jon Katz, Mansion Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected]) And thank you.

Today is the Winter Solstice, the darkest day, the longest night. Tomorrow, everyday gets lighter, every night gets shorter. We were planning a bonfire in the pasture tonight, but it’s pouring all day, so we’re putting together a Winter Solstice Playlist, and will re-schedule the bonfire for Sunday evening.

This celebration is being produced by my Pagan wife.

It won’t be the solstice, but it will be plenty dark. And tonight, the roaring fires will be in the wood stove. We’ve cancelled Friday Night Bingo tonight, but I’m going over to the Mansion at 1 p.m. to host a Christmas Carol Karaoke session, three days before Christmas.

This afternoon, I’m  shopping for our Monday evening Christmas dinner. I’m making two of my Pizza specials: Goat cheese and pear (with pesto, garlic and parsley) and maybe some pine nuts, if I can find them. The second pizza will be slicked chicken sausage and vegetables with thinly slicked mozzarella.  This pizza will have fresh tomato sauce and some spinach rather than pesto.

There are two ways to look at this gloomy, windswept rainy and dark day. I can get gloomy, or I be grateful that beginning tomorrow, every single day will be brighter and longer.

For the past two months I have been searching for a way to help Jackie read. She is one of my favorite people at the Mansion, shy and unassuming and bright. She has trouble seeing.

I tried large print books and small magnifying glasses, and color and illustrated books. She had trouble holding a magnifying glass and most of them were simply not strong enough.

The other night, Jackie and I went online together and we found what we both thought might be a solution – a new kind of lamp.

Jackie never asks for anything and refuses to collect her prizes at Bingo, she gives them to other residents. Jackie appreciates letters, but she can’t read the messages, she loves to look at the cards.

Yesterday, the new Brightech magnifying glass lighted floor lamp arrived and Maria and I put it together. It is big and heavy and powerful and simple to use.

Today I brought it to the Mansion. I was a bit anxious – we’ve had rough luck getting Jackie help reading – she loves to read. It really bothered me to think that there was no way to help her. And for at least two months, we couldn’t find a way.

I also had a good feeling about it today. This lamp is made for the visually impaired. They knew what they were doing.

Thanks to your support, I was able to buy this lamp instantly and install it in Jackie’s room. There were no books in there, she had been unable to read any of the books I had brought her.

I set up the lamp next to her chair and plugged it in. This lens was brighter and stronger than any we had tried, and Jackie picked up some of the cards the Army Of Good had been sending her (thanks).

She moved the lamp into position herself and adjusted the card, slowly but clearly, she read the address out to me, the first time she had been able to read an address on a card

“Is this working?,”I asked, ready to cry a bit. “Yes, I think so. Thank you,” she said. And knowing Jackie, I said fine, and Red and I left her to experiment and figure it out.

Was she ready for some books?, I asked. “I think so,” she said, unsure. She’ll figure it out. I briefed the aides on how the lamp works, and how the book or reading matter has to be lowered to make the type bigger.

Tomorrow, I’ll order some large print books and I felt that this was one of the most important and satisfying things I had done at the Mansion, I thank you so much for your support.

I wanted you to see what you had done.

If you wish to contribute to the Mansion work, you can send a donation via Paypal, [email protected] or through the mail, “Jon Katz, Mansion Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. You can also send a donation in any amount using Paypal or a credit card by doing to the bottom of this blog post and clicking on Support The Army Of Good.

I thank you, we are doing a lot of good this Christmas.