24 March

Crocus. Bedlam Farm

by Jon Katz
God is yelling at me
God is yelling at me

When I started taking photographs, I used to think that God was whispering to me, in the light and shadows that my eyes were beginning to see, and on other days, I think that God, if he exists, is shouting at me, and today he was saying: “foolish man! Do not spend one more second of your precious life on small and silly and self-destructive things. Do not live a life of regrets. Look back on your life and say you loved and lived every day of it as well as you could. And get outside with Maria!” So I did.

24 March

Shadows On A Barn. Sweet Time

by Jon Katz
Sweet time. Shadows on the Pig Barn
Sweet time. Shadows on the Pig Barn

What a sweet time. The day started cold and snowy, and ended up cool and windy. It was so beautiful Maria and I abandoned our work in the late afternoon and set out – me with a camera and she with a sketch pad – to just soak up this beautiful place. What a gift to me to be able to do that, to share a life with someone. We drove up Bunker Hill Road looking for shadows,  and she would pull over and I got out with the camera and prowled around stone walls and barns and took some photos, and she sketched hills and trees.

It was so beautiful, and I treasured the unhurried time on this glorious afternoon to look for my odd kind of shots – holes in walls, shadows on barns.  I stood in the wind and looked up at the sun, and gave thanks for the opportunity to be alive and use my time well.

We got home, and I made dinner – crab claws and potatoes – and then we sat with the dogs and read.

My day was not as lucky. I worked hard for two days on a short story that just didn’t work, and I abandoned it. Short stories are hard. I am doing new kinds of writing and it is challenging. Good for me. I loved my story today. Tomorrow, my daughter Emma arrives and Friday we will hit the Red Fox Bookstore for a joint reading. Special time for me. Em is nervous that Frieda will eat Pearl.  I told her Frieda only eats things that annoy her or move quickly.

24 March

Brighten your spirits. Arise, the humble crocus

by Jon Katz
First flowers in my garden
First flowers in my garden

Maria spotted the first crocus in front of the farmhouse today and the sun came out and I ran out with the camera. Wonderful to be taking photos of flowers again, the joy of any photographer with a 100 mm macro lens with Image Stabilizer. Welcome to Spring. I am back at work on the short stories. My time off didn’t work out.

24 March

Spring! Bedlam Farm notecards

by Jon Katz
Spring notecards: Bedlam Flowers
Spring notecards: Bedlam Flowers

Bedlam Farm Spring Notecards, printed by The Image Loft in Manchester, Vt., are out, above the Flowers of Bedlam Farm. Redux Gallery is also offering dog, egg, chicken notecards on the Redux site for viewing and sale. Quilts, potholders and bags at yesnoquilts.com.

Thursday. My story telling workshop at LARAC in Glens Falls (full). Friday, 7 p.m., March 26, father-daughter appearance at Red Fox Books. Emma will talk about her new book “90 per cent of the game is half mental,” and I will offer a sneak preview from my new novel “Rose In A Storm” out in October. Pearl will be on hand and we will talk about writing.

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