Barn cats are wizards at knowing where to find warmth and shelter. Flo used to hide out in the woodshed behind the house, she was there for months before she showed herself. I had the sense she had found a better place, but couldn’t find it. This morning, Maria and I were in the barn and she popped out from the top of the new hay bales we stacked there, it is a great spot, close to the roof, warm and dry. Flo can take care of herself as most barn cats learn to do.
The Internet is a strange place, it has altered the world in good and bad ways, it has made the world much smaller. It has altered my world.
Liz Barningham was sitting in her kitchen in Dunham, Ontario yesterday when she opened up my blog and saw a photo of her next door neighbors, Susan and Dan Dugard sitting with George Forss here in Cambridge, N.Y., and reading on the blog that they are about to come and visit Bedlam Farm. Liz is one of those quiet followers of the blog, I’ve never heard from her, she doesn’t post on social media, she hasn’t e-mailed me, but she has been following the blog for years, buys books from Connie Brooks at Battenkill Books and was excited to see that the Dugards – vacationing here in Cambridge because they also read the blog. As some people know, I am always a bit surprised to realize the grasp and meaning of the blog in the outside world, I just don’t have a grasp of it, but am reminded of it again and again. I am amazed at the idea somebody would spend a week here because of the way I write about my life, yet it is something I have often done myself when I read writers that I like. Hard to see from the other side of the spectrum.
The circle turns. A friend gave Liz one of my books, she has passed it around and as a result, came to the blog. Liz has a therapy dog – she has Irish Wolfounds – and she says she took this photo returning from a therapy dog visit. She doesn’t usually wear antlers, she says. The Dugards describe Dunham as a very small town in rural Ontario. “She is a wonderful person,” says Liz of Sue. “She knits beautifully and is a fine oncology nurse.”
I told Liz Maria and I are taking the Dugards to lunch in a couple of hours at the Round House Cafe (they will meet Scott Carrino there) and then they are visiting the farm to meet Simon and see Red herd the sheep. How wonderful to see this web of connections and meaning. How affirming to think of these nice people from Ontario coming here, being seen by their friends back home, connection is the point, it is what we all seek. My farm is offering that to me, it is a gift I am happy to accept.
One more connection: Sue and Liz both e-mailed me within minutes of one another to say they agreed with my choice of a type font and style for my new header. The world is smaller yet, and perhaps there is good reason to have hope for it.
