Dog Quilt

Dog quilt under construction in the studio barn from Maria’s magic factory. Already sold, I believe. She loves making quilts, and they are beautiful things.

March 14, 2010 – Cold, windy. Instead of going to Vermont to meditate, I think I’ll go to the Quaker Meeting in Easton, instead. I went to Quaker Meeting for five or six years in other places and I found the meditation there deep and meaningful. I’m excited to be going back.

This is a big week for me. My story telling workship kicks off in Glens Falls Thursday night  at the Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council. It is full up with 10 people, a perfect number. We will do it again in August. Izzy’s coming along to loosen things up.

Tuesday I’m going to New York to attend the book party for my daughter Emma’s new book “90 per cent of the game is half mental” a funny outsider’s look at baseball and work in New York City at this strange time. An important trip in many ways. Maria is coming as well.

Today I’m finishing the first draft of my book of short stories – due out sometime next year. Need to edit it.

Also this week I hope to make some decisions about selling the farm. I am grateful for the wise and funny and interesting e-mails I am getting. I see this blog as a dialogue sometimes, and sometimes a monologue. I love stories, and yours are as interesting as mine.

I don’t think this moving issue is about money. If I am prudent and the publishing industry stays relatively intact, I can afford the farm – not the way I ran it before, but the way I run it now. I have to watch it, like everybody else I know, and I need to be vigilant, but if I do, I can stay here. Money is important, but it ought not be a primary factor. I have a lot of  exciting things in the works – fiction, children’s books, short stories, some other book ideas. It’s a time for creative people to be creative. If I work hard and do good work, I will be all right. If I were smart, I would get a tiny house and pile every penny into an IRA or 401K. I am not smart that way.

There was too much Bedlam in Bedlam Farm and it is settling, as is my life. As it does, I can make clearer and more deliberate decisions. I know Maria and I can be happy anywhere – you don’t want to be bound to a place thinking you can’t leave. The farm is not suitable for leasing. If I stay, it is mine to run and pay for.

It is a creative place. It just works for me, and for Maria. And if I stay, I am thinking of bringing a small number of animals back – just a few. Maria would love that, and so, surely, would Rose. It might also be wise to wait in terms of the real estate market, obviously. Grown-up considerations. All of these things are bubbling around. I am lucky to have good options and someone to share my life with. There is no drama here, just a sense – as many have suggested – of letting things becoming clear, of following the heart, of letting some decisions make themselves.

In the meantime, I have a big week coming up, and I am happy to be able to focus on my daughter’s lovely book and the power of stories.

My dogs, crossing the road

Photos working again. My command to keep off the road is “no street.” I use “heel” differently than most people, for me it means “cross the street.” Don’t know how that started, butit works, and all four dogs love to race across and down the path. Looking forward to going to medidate Sunday, hope it will bring clarity about things. I am not usually muddled about decisions. If anything, I make them too quickly. So I will slow this one down.

My daughter Emma’s book “90 per cent of the game is half mental” comes out Tuesday and Maria and I will be going to Brooklyn for her book party. On March 26, Em and I will appear together at Red Fox Books in Glens Falls, 7 p.m. I wil be reading from “Rose In A Storm,” a sneak preview. I will also be at the First Annual New York State Book Festival in Albany on April 10.  I remember when she told me that she thought Joe Torre would make a great father, but I told her she was stuck with what she had. Reminder: notecards on Redux. Dog quilts on yesnoquilts.com Mary Kellogg’s book “Whistling Woman” on tbmbooks.com