Day: May 23, 2012

What can I say? I love women (no, Maria, I am not flirting!) and I am tickled to be part of the “Anointing The Goddess” art show, the last Pig Barn Bedlam Farm Gallery Show , at least on this farm. There will be goddess art, sketches, collages. And Bedlam Farm Goddess Photos also. We are printing a series of photos (just prints, so not expensive) featuring the goddesses I live with – Mother, Minnie, Lenore, Lulu, Fanny. The chief goddess, of course, is my former girlfriend. Soon after we met, I offered her the use of the Studio Barn. Her Goddess Empire has now expanded to include much of the second floor, the Studio Barn, the Pig Barn. If we stayed her one month longer, she would have grabbed the Big Barn as well.

When we looked at the New Bedlam Farm, she immediately consigned me to the woodshed and took over the workshop and the second floor, plus the standing barn for her gallery. “Adorable,” she says when she likes something, and I started measuring the floor space in the woodshed. Yes, she is gentle, and yes, she is good to animals, but do not be standing in front of her when you want something, or you will have tire tracks on your forehead. She is the Big Goddess of them all, but she won’t allow any photos of herself. So I’m kicking off my own goddess photo series in the spirit of the art show, June 23-24, a farewell to this wonderful farm.

When it rains – which is often lately – Lenore and Frieda retreat to the top step of the porch and gaze out at the world from there. These two have become very close, very easy with one another, the more so, I think, since Rose and Izzy died. Lenore thinks nothing of stealing Frieda’s treats and parading around with them, and Frieda lets her do just about anything she wants. They are great pals, perfect rainmates on the porch.

I met a woman yesterday who said she loved my blog and my books, but really wanted to meet Maria. She said she watched the photos of Maria with the donkeys and Rocky, and she imagined her to be a sweet and gentle person. This is so. Maria is the sweetest and gentlest person I have ever known, that that does not mean she is not tough. She is very tough. She has a spine of steel. She has overcome a lot of difficult things to be who she is, get where she is, do what she loves. I love the gentleness in Maria, and I love the Sicilian part, too. I generally do what I am told.

Some years ago, I decided the best path for me was to surround myself with strong and smart women and do what they tell me. I did not imagine how prescient this feeling was. Everyone I work for now is a woman – agent, editors, teachers. They are all strong and smart, and I generally do what I am told. It is working out. It may be the secret of life. I believe men have messed up their chance to run the world – wars, Washington, crime, pollution, greed. Time for a different way.  Maria has begun a series of notecards giveaways on her site. The first notecard giveaway was this morning. The next is Thursday.