Bedlam Farm Blog Journal by Jon Katz

Flower Art
19 April

Flower Art, As Promised, Friday, April 19, 2024. Here Come The Daisies

by Jon Katz

Thanks once more to Sue Lamberti of the Cambridge Flower Shop, for being such a good friend and advising me on beautiful flowers to buy and bring home and photograph. She has been a valuable help and pal; many of these flowers will end up in my raised garden beds in a month.

Sue re-opened her flower shop after a few years of hiatus, and I’m so happy to see her business taking off, prom, weddings, and special events. It’s great to see her shop so successful, and I am always happy to visit with Zinnia, who she loves. (I think she loves all dogs.) She was a bit nervous at first but is sailing alone and right at home, along with her fun friend Michael.

She helped me get a great jump on the summer.

I had a wonderful week, but an exhausting one. The children’s food program was and is a great success. It means a lot to me, and I can’t imagine how Sarah Harrington does it, but I love doing it and consider it a great gift.

I will take it easy tomorrow, or at least try once more, but I will blog here and there. I look forward to seeing you in the morning. We are planning a quiet and peaceful weekend (have we heard this before?). We have both been working day and night, which is our weakness and strength. We’ve been planning a quiet and restful weekend for weeks and months; this may be the one. I told her I was sure this was in us, and we had to be serious about it.

We both love our work too much to leave it alone for long. Good wishes from Bip and Zud.

Good night to you; I hope your weekend is happy and meaningful.

The daises and this rose were made for one another.

The daisies are joyous and straightforward flowers, great to photograph.

I can’t even tell what all these flowers are, but I love their connection to one another.

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19 April

Pop Cake Art From Sue Silverstein’s Amazing Art Class At Bishop Gibbons High School. She Is A Columnist On The Blog Now

by Jon Katz

Sue sent me this striking Pop-Cake Art piece from a boy in the 10th grade at Bishop Gibbons High School in Schenectady, New York. Her class creates the most unique and individualist art. This one is from Zion, a school athlete.

“Look at this cake!” she said. “I love it. Believe it or not, the boys in the class are all basketball stars. They are very physical, and if I give them a great big physical project, they are all over it. It needs a fork on it. We took a hammer and pounded that in there. Zion is Kareem’s little brother. The thing has foam, plaster, house paint, beads, fabric, and hot glue!”

Sue is a genius for reaching the creative center of her students and drawing it out.

Like all of her art, Zion’s pop cake was made from materials donated by the Army Of Good. You can send old or discarded art possibilities to Sue Silverstein, Bishop Gibbons High School, 2600 Albany Street,  Schenectady, New York, 12304. She will find a way to turn them into art. She asks for discarded objects, rarely for money.

Sue’s ability to inspire her students to find their creative spark is fantastic.  You can read her column in this blog once a week; she chooses the days and likes Friday, but it may vary. I’m excited to have her write her on the blog every week.

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The Mansion
19 April

An Emotional Class At The Mansion. The Powerful Words Of St. Therese, A Goodbye To A Friend

by Jon Katz

When I met with my meditation class at the mansion today, I had an emotional visit. I read from St. Terese’s writings—she was my inspiration for the Army Of Good—and I’ve never seen the residents more affected. Sharon, a poet, and a good friend, told me she had to leave the Mansion because her health needed more advanced care than permitted.

She asked me for a last favor, a small vase with violets.

(I bring flowers with me now each week; above is a photo of Ellen from Memory Care, waiting for the class. She has the most beautiful smile.)

I went to see Sue Lamberti at the Cambridge Flower Shop and bought some violets in a small vase.

My reading from St. Therese of the Child Jesus: “But how shall I show my love, since love proves itself by deeds? Well, the little child will strew flowers before These – that is to say, I will let no tiny sacrifice pass, no look, no word. I wish to suffer for Love’s sake and even to rejoice; thus shall I strew flowers. Now one shall I find without scattering to petals before Thee – and I will sing – I will always sing even if my roses must be gathered from amidst thorns, and the longer and sharper the thorns, the sweeter shall be my song.”

St. Terese was 22 when she died.

I’ve been reading to the residents in my class for several years or more, and I’ve never seen them so quiet, affected, or attentive to any reading. We all felt the emotion in the room, and yes, I did think of my flowers and the meaning they have for people.

The artist Jane, listening to my reading. Jane has a powerful spiritual aura about her; she always sits next to me; she paints every morning, and so much of her work is beautiful and different. We provide her art supplies.

When people need complex medical attention, they must leave a Medicaid-assisted care facility for a Nursing  Home, which is equipped with medical nurses, doctors, and long-term and advanced care. It’s difficult for them to move yet again, almost cetainly for the last time. Sharon is a published poet, and we have become good friends. She is a faithful attendee of my class.

I bring her books whenever I can. I’ve never heard Sharon complain or feel sorry for herself. She is quite brave.

I asked her if she needed anything, and she said yes, she would love a small vase with violets. I went right to Cambridge Flower Shop, Sue had African Violets and got me a vase with some, and I went back to Sharon to give her the flowers.

She loved the Mansion and was – is – comfortable there.

She is leaving as soon as another facility accepts here, her medical issues are complicated. I will miss her, a quiet and sensitive person who wrote a number of poems for me. Perhaps she will find a place to go not too far away.

On the way out, Susan, a member of my Medication Class and a great fan of Zinnia, met her in the hall. Zinnia, who knows her well, flopped over for a belly rub, a sweet moment for both. The Mansion asked for four bird feeders and some stands; they are on the way.

You can support my Mansion work via Paypal, [email protected], or Venmo, Jon Katz-Jon-Katz-13, or by check, Jon Katz, the Mansion Fund, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. Thanks, the fund is pretty low.

It was a beautiful visit but also a painful one. At the Mansion, sickness and death are a part of life. I’m used to it and accept it, but sometimes it hurts.

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19 April

Coffeee Call At The Cambridge Pantry: One For The Parents On The Last Day Of The Children’s Food Support Week. Coffee And Ravioli Is Needed

by Jon Katz

We sent a lot of food for Children’s Food Relief Week at the Cambridge Pantry.

As one of the volunteers said, thank you, Army Of Good, “You are a blessing to us.” You sure were; the snack packs that went out yesterday were big, wide, and healthy.

The families and the children are grateful. You greatly enriched the lives of 188 children and 66 families and gave them the kinds of good they have missed and are eager for. The children benefited greatly from this.

It’s the end of the week, and we might end with a flurry by getting the parents something they have been unable to get at the pantry for a long time: coffee.

What coffee they did got flew out fast. Director Sarah Harrington says coffee is the most needed and wanted food for the families who come to the pantry:

It would be a great way to end a great week if we had enough coffee for those who ache for it and haven’t had any for a long time.

I miss my coffee. I only drink Decaf now, but I still love the smell and the way it started me on my day. These people live with stress and struggle; coffee is as integral to their lives as it was to mine. They would appreciate your help.

Sarah chose Seattle’s Best Coffee Post Alley Blend Dark Roast Ground Coffe, 12 12-ounce bags (Pack of 3), $17.01.

Children’s Week was a great success; I felt the parents needed a break, too. I’m hoping we finish the way we started this week: with a big bang.

The last item on the children’s list for this week is ravioli, the most requested food by the 188 kids in the pantry food program. It’s Chef Boyardee Beef Ravioli, 15 oz. 4-Pack, $2.79.

You can see the entire updated Amazon Pantry Wish List here.

Volunteer Sue is as friendly as she looks and works hard, like all volunteers.

This was an excellent week for the customers in the food pantry, especially for the children. I spent some time at the pantry and got a sense of the incredible dedication of the volunteers.

This is a community effort to provide nutritious food to needy people who need food support.

The Army of Good shines intensely, and everyone thanks you, me, the families, the kids, the volunteers, and Director Sarah Harrington, who is hard at work modernizing the pantry and organizing it efficiently.

This was a week I will never forget. I hope you feel the same way.

I wanted to end this remarkable week by sharing a letter I got from Army Of Good Member Josie Grow: “Jon, I am so happy to be a part of the Army of Good! Seeing all the food deliveries warms my heart. There was a time when my husband lost his job, and we had our kids to feed. Our local church food pantry was a lifesaver! I’m so happy to be able to contribute to this great cause. Children should always have enough food to eat.”

Thanks, everyone; I’ll pick up on support for the Cambridge Pantry food drive on Monday. I suspect everyone needs a rest. I know I do; I can only imagine what the volunteers need.

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Bedlam Farm Journal
19 April

The Crazy Fuck Moves On…How Zip Is Being Abused. Off To The Mansion For Meditation Class.

by Jon Katz

I’ve been called a “Crazy Fuck” several times in my life, most recently this morning by my wonderful wife Maria, who was laughing when she said it (I think.) I was doing something dumb.

This brought back memories.

The first time I was called that was in Philadelphia when I, as a reporter, set out to cover a race riot in the northern part of the city. My editor warned me not to get too close or far from the police.

I did not, of course, listen. I was young and immortal.

(Photo above Attention animal rights warriors and the Spelling Police: this is a photo of Zip being abused on our farm. You might want to see it; his belly is rubbed in the pasture every morning. He is no Dumb Cat.)

But I had to get closer to understanding what was happening if I was going to write a good story about the ugly and frightening riots.

(More abuse of Zud, or is it Zip?)

I pulled my little old Volkswagen over amid a mob fighting with the police, and I looked in the rearview mirror to see a young man stuffing a Molotov Cocktail into the gasoline latch at the rear of the car.

My editor had warned me not to be alone or get too close to the trouble. As a young and ambitious reporter, that was precisely where I thought I should be.

I jumped out of the car and ran, and the vehicle caught fire and eventually exploded. I was not hurt, and no one came chasing after me. No police officer came running over, either. Nobody likes reporters.

When I hitched a ride back to the paper with my story,  I told my boss what had happened, and he called me a Crazy Fuck, the first time I had heard the phrase but not the last.

How, I wondered, was I going to get around?

He shook his head and said I shouldn’t consider the paper reimbursing the car.

Life goes on, and I go on; I see my life as a distinct series of chapters and passages, and I guess I am still a Crazy Fuck; that might be one of the phases that never goes away or one thing that never goes away.

I did, after all, move up abruptly to live in the country on a farm, even though I had never set foot on one. Lots of people called me names for doing that.

Still, I laughed this morning. Today, the equivalent of that term, I told Maria, is Dementia. People tell me I am brainless and demented when I misspell a cat’s name. The bar for insult is getting lower.

I had to smile when I thought of all the things I’ve been called over the years. I know I am different, which attracts nasty flies and mosquitoes.

I am off to the Mansion Meditation Class. I will see you later.

Windowsill gallery, kitchen, African Violets

Windowsill 2, Kitchen, Calla Lilly, and Wonder Woman.

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