16 March

Edging Towards Normal

by Jon Katz
Almost Normal

We are edging towards normal, the farm is still a bit paralyzed from the big blizzard on Monday but we are getting operational again. The animals can’t go much of anywhere yet, and neither can we, but every day we dig a little more and we have paths now almost to everywhere.

The animals are  bewildered more than anything, they are pretty much confined to the Pole Barn and are edgy and restless. I told them this morning it could be a lot worse, lots of animals perish in fires and drought and storms like this one. State officials say countless deer and other wild animals will starve to death this week.

The roads are good, the farm is functioning, the power is on.

Soon, the big melt and lots of mud. The Ed Gulley Bridge will be under water again as this mess melts. I recommend Ed and Carol Gulley’s new video, about the art he is making. It was posted on his blog, The Bejosh Farm Journal,  this morning.

I was excited about the new wind chime he has made, so excited I bought it on the spot. It is composed of a dozen different elements from his farm and family and makes a particular kind of noise.  It is full of feeling and authenticity, it is quite unique.

I think it is the most interesting one Ed has made yet.  I could hear the excitement in his voice.

I think it will hand on the back porch. It would have been wild to have it in the Blizzard of 2017.

I am sore and tired of digging and shoveling (and weary of people telling me to take it easy. I am sure they mean well, but it is my job to take care of myself and I am quite conscientious about it. Besides, that advice only makes me dig harder.) Today, a day of writing and working on my book.

This afternoon,  a busy schedule. I will go see my friend Scott Carrino in the Pompanuck bakery, he is threatening to teach me how to make pizza dough. We might sit in the Sugar House.

I will go see Ed Gulley and purchase his latest, and I think, most meaningful, wind chime. I will go the Mansion and return Connie’s 11-year-old computer – I took it to a computer specialist who just shook his head sadly – and give her the sad news that it is beyond repair.

Sometimes we can and should help, sometimes we can’t and shouldn’t. Boundaries.

I will leave a stuffed baby goat for Herman, who will hopefully return from the hospital soon.

The new van might also be there, I’d like to take a photo of that and show you what you have done.

16 March

Seeing Christie: The Ones In The Corner

by Jon Katz
Seeing Christie: The Ones In The Corner

Red and I went to see Christie, a Mansion resident now in the hospital, undergoing treatment for a number of chronic illnesses. She was struggling, and clearly surprised to see us. It is not clear if she will be returning to the Mansion or when, but she messaged me, saying hello and expressing the hope she might see Red again.

I could tell when we came into the room that she did not expect either of us to come.

This morning, another message:

Thank you for bring Red to visit me. I was so surprised! I could not believe you would go to the trouble for me. See, I was always the one sitting in a corner. Your visit means worlds to me. God Bless You and Maria and Red.” Christie said she was about to undergo some surgery and she was frightened.

Her message actually meant worlds to me.

I went and sat down for a few minutes in my favorite living room chair, Red at my feet, as always. I thought of those sitting in the corner. I was one of those ones who was always sitting in a corner. So was Maria. Those are the people I feel closest to, the people who know me, the people I know, words are not necessary.

In a sense, this is why I am drawn to the Mansion residents.

They are all now the ones sitting in the corner. Few of them expect anyone to come, and many of you are reminding them that this need not be true. You mean the world to them.

This is why I am suddenly being drawn into the dispiriting politics of the nation. In a sense, the division is really about those who wish to welcome and care for the ones who are in the corner, shoved aside, forgotten, and shocked whenever anyone pays attention to them or really sees them as the human beings they are.

Many of us just want the people in the corner to go away and somehow take care of themselves and trim our taxes. That is the issue for me, compassion and empathy, it is really such a simple thing to do things that mean so much to people.

Going to see Christie was such a small thing I didn’t really even think about it, it was the very least I might do.

It took only a few hours, it cost nothing, it made me feel good and strong about myself. I didn’t even quite realize how much it might mean to her, all the better. Like Christie, I don’t think of myself as mattering that much to people.

Godspeed Christie, I know you read my blog, you are a sweet and generous soul, I hope your surgery goes well, I hope you return to your friends at the Mansion, I hope your days are peaceful and painless and full of meaning.

I will think of you and all the ones always sitting in a corner. There are people who care about you, you are not alone there.

(Friends, I know a lot of you would like to write Christie, but I don’t feel comfortable giving out the name and address of the hospital. It is okay with Christie, but I am not at ease disclosing her full name, and I  really don’t know how long she will be there or where she is going.  I don’t feel comfortable about it.  If you wish to write to her, the best thing to do is to send your messages to the Mansion, 11 S. Union St., Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, and either they or I will get them to her. Thanks)

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