Day: September 20, 2013

Maria has made eight beautiful fall scarves, all of them from vintage hankies she has been collecting and people have been sending her from all over the country. I love the leaves on the scarves and the old barn has given us a beautiful backdrop, I think these scarves are my favorite so far, they are so graceful and colorful and evocative. I believe they are all for sale on Maria’s website. You can also e-mail her at [email protected] Her work is evolving so rapidly it’s hard for me to keep up with it. She is calling her potholders “message potholders,” which is a great description of them.

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FYI: we now have a P.O. Box, many of you have asked for a way to send us messages (no gifts or flowers please). Bedlam Farm, P.O. Box 2, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, Maria and I can both receive mail there.

Minnie has changed since we moved to the new farm. She came to Bedlam Farm in 2006, a feral kitten, she hid in the barn for months. She emerged as a friendly barn cat, overshadowed by the ferociously independent and murderous Mother, who stalked the meadow grass day and night for mice, moles, squirrels, baby rabbits and rats. Mother vanished after a week at the new farm, we do not know what happened to her. I believe she chose to leave and find a different home.

Minnie was always eager and friendly. She loves to hang out with the chickens, I sometimes think she thinks she is one. Simon stomped her once Frieda has chased her, she does not seek or need as much affection. Here, she has become a hunter, she is out in the meadow and pasture much of the day and night, stalking, she has gained weight from eating. She loves to hang out by the back door in the day light, she sleeps in the big barn at night.

She has become more like Mother, really, and Flo is the cat who most often wants to end up in a lap. I am fond of Minnie, have never really connected with her, she is very attached to Maria, and vice-versa.

Every morning, when I get up, I go outside and I close my eyes and open them, and I wait to see what catches my eye, what my eye is drawn to, and then I stop and figure out which lens will best capture what I am seeing. This morning, I was drawn to the sunflower sticking out of the red Dahlia Garden, and the headless statue of an unknown saint behind it. I thought of the sunflower as almost being a head for the statue, and I was also drawn to the sunlight coming through the mist in the field, something that would backlight the photo. I chose a big lens, a 300 mm telephoto lens because it would focus on the statue and blur the color, giving the photo an effect that was not literal. I was able to capture what the eye was drawn to, a powerful element in my choice of photos to put up on the blog. My idea is that whatever I am drawn to is a good photo for me.

The ISO was 320, the lens was focused at 260 mm, f/5.6, 1/250

I’ve studied attachment theory for years and am always fascinated by the reasons we are drawn to adopt one dog or another, or choose a big dog versus a small one. Visiting the SiIicon Valley Humane Society, I was drawn to Ruby, one of three pups in a litter. She was a bit shy, but very sweet and I have  never owned a small dog or been drawn to one. But something in me wanted to take Ruby home. I have three dogs, that’s the right number for me and I didn’t push it too hard. Maria was flabbergasted that I was interested in this dog.  Something about her eyes, I think. They seemed sad and pleading to me, an other of those projections that cause people to bring animals home. I knew Ruby would be adopted – the nice people at the SVHS e-mailed me that she was adopted the day I left Palo Alto by a single woman who wanted an only dog who would be her “Princess.” Sounds like a good match.

I didn’t think of Ruby all that much when we left California, cute puppies don’t usually last long in shelters. I’m glad she was adopted, and I’m glad we don’t have four dogs. There are enough animals here and they all deserve our care and attention.