15 February

Love Triumphant: Valentine Lunch with George Forss And Donna Wynbrandt

by Jon Katz
Love Triumphant
Love Triumphant

George Forss and Donna Wynbrandt and Maria and I had a our delayed Valentine’s lunch today at the Round House Cafe, a lunch with our lovers heightened by our photo show which graced all of the walls around us. You could write five or six books about George’s life, but one of the most compelling would be the story of George and Donna, a story of love triumphant.

Donna is a gifted artist, she spent many years of her life as a street person in New York, she has also dealt with schizophrenia. Donna has just had a frightening experience with some of her medications,  it happens from time to time, she handles it with grace and bravery. Her strong connection to Buddhism always helps ground her and steady her. It is always poignant to see the commitment and tenderness she and George have to one another, she is recovering, getting back to normal.

These two have been through a half-dozen lifetimes together, always with grace and commitment.

This is a love that has endured, Donna and George have a creative connection, much as Maria and I do, theirs is a story of commitment, understanding and the purest kind of love, how wonderful that these two fierce individuals found each other. They met in New York City, she is he subject of some of George’s most famous photographs, she and George are my subject now,  I try and capture portraits of them whenever I can. They are an inspiration to me, a reminder that love is powerful, healing and can also be intensely creative.

We were happy to celebrate Valentine’s Day with these two remarkable people. George and I are both going to be at the Round House Cafe reception for “Looking At Our World,” to be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Thursday February 20th at the Round House Cafe, 1 Washington Street, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. If Scott has time, he may sing a song inspired by my “Divine Old Dog” poems. We will be showing video of interviews with George by the BBC, the Today Show and Entertainment tonight.. The Round House will be serving light fare for dinner, their nice pizza,  cookies and desserts. I’ll be talking a bit, Red will be on hand greeting his fans.

I am so grateful to know George and Donna, and to have George as a friend.

15 February

Poem: Divine Old Dog Gets A Treat

by Jon Katz
Divine Old Dogs Gets A Treat
Divine Old Dogs Gets A Treat

The Divine Old Dog Loves Her Treats,

In her corner,

on her dog bed,

right by the warm wood stove,

near the window,

she can keep an eye on the door,

the living room,

the wretched cats who have somehow,

dared to invade her universe.

It is cold outside, hard on

the Divine Old Dog’s arthritic

legs, the deep snow

too much for her to jump through.

The Divine Old Dog loves her treats,

she chews them carefully and thoroughly,

after afternoon.

15 February

Tunneling To Work

by Jon Katz
Tunneling To Work
Tunneling To Work

Lots of people had trouble getting to work in different parts of the country this week, but the resident border collie at Bedlam Farm got to work on time, he tunneled his way around the pasture right up to the edge of the Pole Barn, 15 feet from the shocked sheep, who, I think, were not expecting him to pop up in the snow. Border collies do not complain about the weather.

15 February

Enveloped: Intimations Of Spring

by Jon Katz
Intimations Of Spring
Intimations Of Spring

Bedlam Farm is enveloped, it’s the only way I can think of to describe it, one of these days there’s going to be a whopper of a melt. The farmers here are whispering about a thaw this week, temperatures in the 30’s and 40’s by Wednesday or Thursday. We are  ready for that, I can see Spring in the light, it is not far away. I got my Kickstarter money, or some of it, and I’m heading for B&H Photo on the 24th, and on that trip I’ll take my first New York City Carriage Horse ride in Central Park, try and get a sense of how dangerous it is, or how romantic. I’m urging the former girlfriend to come.

I was tickled to see the flap created in New York this week when the city banned the horses from working due to the wintry weather but insisted that thousands of kids go to school in a storm. Got to keep our priorities straight. I am mindful, of course, that by the standards applied to the horses  I am abusing Red by letting him work in sub-zero weather and storms. Great photos thought.

15 February

The Joy Of A Big Storm

by Jon Katz
The Love Of A Storm
The Love Of A Storm

Red’s love of work is infectious, pure joy. If he were a New York Carriage Horse, I’d be in jail or getting shouted by demonstrators, but Red reminds me not to take myself or the storms too seriously, there is joy in it, he reminds me of the joy in life, of the challenge of crisis and mystery. Red’s love of work spreads like a virus, even in a story.

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