Tomorrow we are going to Boston for two days (I posted this Provincetown Sunset in honor of the trip to Massachusetts, and in honor of the Winter Solstice) to trawl through a couple of museums and walk and walk and soak up some city. Maria is keen to see a fiber art exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art and I am interested in the Jamie Wyeth exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts. We both love the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum if there is time.
We will be back on Christmas Eve, stopping on the way at the Blue-Star Equiculture Farm in Palmer, Massachusetts to join in the annual Christmas feeding of the big horses, which will be a neat gateway to Christmas. The public is invited. Neither of us has families close by, and neither of us really cares much for family functions, so this will be a short and sweet Christmas break for us.
We are happy to spend Christmas Day on the farm with the crew here. I have some good stuff to give Maria, I think she will be surprised, although she always gets ticked off if I give her presents. I will always give her presents, so we will just have to work it out over time. I am one of those people who has traditionally wanted many things, although that is changing, she never really wants anything that she can’t buy in a Thrift Shop or make for herself.
The Ken Norman experience with gofundme was a triumph and a joy. Ken was seeking $17,600 to help get him through a double-knee replacement on December 29, there is a three-month recovery to that. The response was instantaneous and overwhelming. In one day, he raised more than $22,000, it’s still coming in.
The people on my blog jumped in, so did horse and animal lovers all over the country, so did the farriers, who Ken said in his own eloquent way “shared the shit” out of the links. So did many of you. This struck a chord with so many people, in so many different place. People are good, do not believe the news they sell you or the hatred they peddle.
On Christmas week, we captured the true spirit of the holiday. On this Solstice, think of the warm and the light, i will always remember the outpouring of compassion so many people showed for a farrier trying to keep his good life going. That will keep me warm for awhile.
I’m bringing a laptop to Boston, if there is anything good to share, I’ll share it. It’s a short trip, I’m already trawling for a good Thai restaurant in the Fenway.