Photography (and love) have taught me that beauty is everywhere, if you open your eyes to it. Photography and love work well together. I am drawn to photographing the last leaves, they have great character and grace, they inspire me to age well and thoughtfully and with dignity and humor. Like them, I will turn and fall. In the meantime, my life will not be about living to the expectations, warnings and greed of other people. I want to go the way they go.
Day by day, Minnie is piecing her life together, this morning, and for the first time since her leg was amputated, she returned to her rocking chair on the back porch, accompanied by one of her chicken pals. She is still spending her nights inside the farmhouse, but she is more active at night now and eager to return to her hunting and explorations. Another week or two we think.
As I suspected she would, Maria has come up with a four-potholder series on Minnie’s recent troubles and recovery, Maria has a genius for capturing emotions in her art, she never talks about what she is thinking, she just goes and does it, and this series seemed so sweet and touching to me, capturing Minnie’s journey – being attacked in the night, losing her leg, fighting to get back on her feet, returning to her life as a barn cat slowly and with great determination.
The series includes “Free At Last,” “Waiting For Minnie To Come Home,” “Minnie Wants To Be Free,” and “At Home In The Barn,” the four major steps in Minnie’s struggle. When we were deciding whether to save Minnie’s leg or euthanize her, the vet said “three-legged animals can be very inspiring,” and she was correct. Minnie is inspiring and so are the Minnie potholders Maria is putting up for sale this morning. You can see them and buy them on her website.
We are fortunate to be able to capture these stories in words, photos, potholders, pillows and quilts. Minnie, the forgotten animal at Bedlam Farm, is center stage and living up to it. I don’t imagine these potholders will last long, they cost $20 each plus shipping.
