4 February

Is There A Little Zelda Coming To Bedlam?

by Jon Katz
Little Zelda?
Little Zelda?

It’s a sobering thought, but there might be a little Zelda heading for Bedlam in April or May, Ted the ram and Zelda have been hanging out together and I think I see some more udder hanging down from Zelda’s stomach. Zelda has her commanding and vigilant stance soon, and God help Red and I if there’s another one, we will be getting our butts kicked all over the pasture.

I think Ted is about finished here, he is going back to Vermont shortly, we are splitting the lambs with Darryl Kuehne, Ted’s owner. We don’t know how many lambs  to expect, could range from two or three to six or seven if there are some twins. I am glad I didn’t do what I did at the first Bedlam Farm, lamb in February, what a nightmare that would have been (again.) I can’t wait to see Maria and the lambs, that should spawn a year’s worth of potholders and sketches.

4 February

On The Carriage Horse Front Line: The Improbable Face Of Evil

by Jon Katz
Holding The Center
Holding The Center

I don’t know Christina Hansen all that well, I just met her Saturday and only spent a few hours with her, in the past few days she has been called upon to deny that she is an animal torturer, a greedy horse abuser, a cruel person who loves to harm animals and mistreat them, a callous human blind to the suffering of animals. On the front lines of the animal world, there is often the feel of combat, Americans, inspired by their favorite cable news networks, are forgetting how to disagree in a civil way, bad news for a democracy.

It is a great irony of the animal world that so many people choose to express their feelings about animals by attacking people. I’m not sure it can ever be reconciled, I’ve never seen a contented animal in the hands of an angry person, I don’t believe you can truly love animals if you hate and abuse people.

Christina is a history lover and former professor, but her love of horses, especially carriage horses, has become the focal point of her life, she lives in New York City and since she has chosen to work as a liaison between the New York carriage horse industry and the rest of the world – clearly she is a foolhardy soul, a glutton for punishment, it is now a David and Goliath story, she is up against the mayor, the City Council, real estate developers and hordes of angry so-called animal rights defenders, ideologues from Brooklyn with hyphenated names and the many people in New York who know so little about animals.

It seems somewhat  hopeless, she does not seem deterred. People like that often surprise you, they are tough and resilient, they sometimes win.

Christina has been assaulted continuously and relentlessly, on the street, in chants, on the phone,  in public comments, online. She drives carriage horses several times a week, and has often been a target there as well. She loves every minute of her life with horses, I bet she will never quit on it. She is well-known to the protestors who call themselves animal rights activists and make their feelings quite personal, (they even assault tourists who ride on the carriages)  they often tailor their most vicious chants to include her. Christina seems to accept this, this level of venom is something new in animal politics, just as hatred and anger have become embedded in conventional politics.

Just a few years ago, the carriage horses and their owners and handlers were considered a  historic and iconic part of New York and Central Park, it has only been in recent years that they have been increasingly singled out by a network of organizations, politicians and wealthy real estate developers – everyone says this has much to do with their troubles, the stables are on some of the most valuable land in Manhattan. These groups, ignored in much of the country, are friends and supporters of the new mayor

Remarkably, Christina has kept her center in all of this, at least in her dealings with me. She is funny, ironic, only occasionally does she reveal the hurt and anger she sometimes feel. Seeing her moon over the horses, talk to them, touch them, recall their stories, it was hard to quite accept the idea of her as an animal abuser. She was quite open with me, she answered every question, took me everywhere I want to go, showed me every animal I wanted to see, never hesitated, dissembled or avoided anything she was asked about.  The comments made about her and to her are tough to hear and see and I don’t see a great point in repeating them all, many are as cruel and nasty as people can get. To attack people like that, you have to demonize them, not see them as human beings but as cartoon characters, representations of evil. Many evil governments have done the same thing to the people they assault.

Whatever the issues involved, whichever side one is on, I have always looked to journalists and political leaders to condemn this kind of behavior. But they don’t seem to do that anymore. I guess I identify with Christina because I have experienced some of it, but mostly because I liked her a lot, and I just hate mobs. I think any thinking human does. I write this because it is wrong to de-humanize people, even the ones screaming insults in the streets. They are people too, it is important to see them in that way, but it’s important to put a face on the person fighting for the carriage horses, it is an important thing to do.

I have great compassion for the targets of enraged mobs, mobs are not capable of reason, thought or dialogue, they are the antithesis of democracy and solutions. Today, I was thinking about her, I imagine Christina’s life got worse today, after the mayor compared the treatment of the carriage horses to “waterboarding” – a form of torture that simulates drowning and can be fatal – on the Jon Stewart show Monday night. If we can’t look to elected officials to help us talk to people and resolve issues, then who, exactly can we turn to? Christina is tough, getting tougher by the day. The issues aside, I ought to point out she is something of a hero to me, anybody is who holds to their values and speaks their truth in the face of so much hatred and cruelty. Not many people could handle it.

I keep meaning to write about what I saw at the stables, I will get to it next, but first, I wanted to offer a digital and literal hand to Christina, to this very unlikely face of evil. I just went and liked her Facebook Page, if you are so inclined, perhaps you could do the same, she ought to know she is not alone in her struggle to understand animals, keep them in our lives and save the carriage horses. As is evident, I felt a real connection to her, I don’t recall having many connections with evil people before.  I am eager to get back to New York in the next week or so and take a ride in her carriage. It could well be one of the last rides I get to take in a carriage,  and perhaps people will shout hateful things at me. From my e-mail, it’s a good bet. I can’t think of a better way to ride or a better person to ride with.

4 February

Before The Storm, The Chickens Prepare: Kickstarter Update

by Jon Katz
The Chickens Gather
The Chickens Gather

The chickens are my most reliable indicator of weather, they always go into a huddle a few hours before a big storm, they find a protected spot and gather themselves there. A few minutes later, they went into their roost, where they will be for the next few days it appears. We bring them warm water and make sure their feeder is full. Chickens have warm body temperatures, when it is cold they lean into one another.

Kickstarter Update: The “Talking To Animals” project has  seven days to go, I’ve received 157 per cent of the requested funding. The project will be closed for pledges next Wednesday at 9:21 p.m. This week, George Forss and I are starting work on his Kickstarter Project, “The Way We Were,” from his brilliant collection of pre-911 photographs of the urban landscape in New York.

People have asked me if it is still possible for them to contribute to “Talking To Animals,” and yes it is.  I have the money I set out for, I will put all the funds to good use, there are several rewards for pledges, including signed books of the final project (for $80 pledges). Kickstarter has become an important alternative fund source for writers, artists and other creatives seeking support for their work. I thank you for your support.

4 February

Before The Storm

by Jon Katz
Before The Storm
Before The Storm

Before the storm, the animals gather together, the sky turns gray, the sun fades, the temperature begins to drop, there is a heavy feeling in the air. Expecting between six inches and a foot, nobody around here believes the weather forecasts anymore but if you live with animals you know the signs, they begin to gather themselves, except Red, who never seems to notice anything but the sheep when he is in the pasture.

I can feel it too, a dankness to the air, we will perhaps not be going anywhere tonight. The Weather Channel is naming it’s two big storms after Greek Gods and Goddesses, I hope they got their permissions straight, they might regret it, I’m not sure how Gods feel about being used as marketing tools.

We went to the pasture, opened up the inside stills, hauled the hay feeder into the Pole Barn, gave out some grain and alfalfa bites, filled some buckets up with water. The storm is supposed to begin around midnight, I always pay the animals a late night visit in a storm, otherwise I can’t sleep.

4 February

My Ted Talk Is Up: My First Manifesto – “Don’t Ever Give Up On Love.”

by Jon Katz
My Ted Talk
My Ted Talk

When I was asked to do a Ted Talk last fall, I said no, I am happy with my books and blog, I don’t feel the need to speak to the wider world, although that sometimes happens, even on the blog. When I thought about it, I realized there was something I wanted to say to the world, and it wasn’t really about my books or about animals or dogs or rural life. I wanted to talk about how tto live one’s life in a world increasingly dominated by fear, money and conflict.

I wanted to talk about what I called “Creative Aging,” I sat down and wrote a 10-point manifesto, my first ever about how strongly I feel that aging ought not to only be viewed in the prism of physical decline, long-term health insurance, health care and medicines. Aging is about many things, it is a challenging and important time, it is also a wondrous time full of humor, wisdom, experience and connection. So I gave my Ted Talk about that, and it went up on You Tube a few minutes ago, it will soon be loaded onto the main Ted Talk website. It already had 1,000 views before I even knew about it. You can see it here.

I was sick the day I gave the Ted Talk, I think it was stress really, it was the first time I had returned to Montclair, N.J. since my divorce – I lived there for 25 years. I was up all night, I didn’t sleep for a minute. It felt good to give the talk, I got a standing ovation afterwards. Anyway, here it is, my message to the world about growing older in a meaningful way. I think the biggest lesson I learned about growing older is that it doesn’t have to be a time of downsizing, living smaller, thinking smaller, it can be a time of wonderful growth and expansion. It required me to ignore almost every single thing the culture was telling me about aging, and it was a lonely process in some ways.

Older people have vanished from our culture, except in ads for sexual stimulants. Marketers don’t like people who don’t have many years of buying power. So I decided to live my own story about getting older, and I wanted to share it. I hope it has some meaning for others.

Don’t ever give up on love.

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