Day: October 7, 2017

Gus really loves people, and he tore around the Open House showering almost everyone with kisses and love. He was great today, he sat on Fanny a few times so people could take his picture, he stayed with us in the pasture while we worked, he was in somebody’s lap every time we looked up.

I have to say I had a hard day with Fate. For the first time, she just got overexcited at the Open House, she ran towards the road several times, blew me off when I called her back to the house, refused to come inside, ran back to the fence.

I got her inside – and I confess I definitely lost it when she got to the road, she has never done that before and did some loud shouting. But she seemed unable to listen or control herself today, and i had to leash her – for the first time at any Open House and get her back into her crate.

I don’t really know what happened, and will try to sort it out. There was not harm done, to her or anyone else, but I have never lost control of her like that, she is very  responsive and obedient with me and Maria. Got to figure it out, this was not okay today.

She just refused to listen, it felt like extreme over arousal to me, but I couldn’t think of a cause for it, unless it might be the presence of Gus in her life. More later. She did get to come in with Red for the shearing and behaved well there.

It was upsetting, but I will get to work on it and try to get to a better place than me screaming and  her blowing me off for the first time. Tomorrow, she’ll be on a leash when she goes outside and out of the pasture.

It is only fitting to us that the Open  House would attract creatives, some who sell their art and others who come to advance their creativity. Sam Fatzinger is from a rural town in Pennsylvania, he came to the Open House with his parents, Suzie and Joe, he brought his sketch pad…

And sketched three elements on the farm, a tree shedding leaves, our headless stature, some garden rocks, and a Dahlia in bloom.

“He is an artist,” says Maria. So he is. Thanks, Sam, for sharing that creativity with us. You have been touched with the gift, and we hope you will alway see our home and farm as a safe and nurturing place for you.

I was very happy to see the RISSE kids, all new arrivals to America,  come to the Open House and greet the donkeys. I hope they come back soon.  They got a big ovation and a lot of hugs. And good lunch at the Round House  Cafe.

Thanks to the Army Of Good, their new soccer uniforms will be coming shortly.

The first day of our 2017 was different from any other. It was the largest crowd by far since we moved from the first Bedlam Farm to this one, it was the warmest, the most emotional and humbling open house.

It was a coming together of so many different elements, people came from Canada, Oklahoma, Georgia, Connecticut, Kentucky, Minnesota, California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and about a dozen other places. Maria’s belly dancing group, the quite amazing “Ladies Of The Shawl” came to dance on our back porch and hundred of people swarmed the farm to see them.

The RISSE refugee soccer team came to say hello, so did a van from the Mansion Assisted Care Facility. Farmers from South Dakota came and a score or more members of the Army Of Good, some of them from very far away.

This was America to me, and the American ideal, a rich rainbow of people deeply connected to common ideas and values, and also deeply appreciated to the mission of the farm, and of my life with Maria. Farmers and refugees, teachers and students Red States and Blue, left and right. We were one thing Saturday, all day and in every way, human beings profoundly connected to one another.

And celebrating love and compassion and creativity. There were many different kinds of people here, but there was not a single argument or hateful moment.

Susie Fatzinger and Susan Smith, two knitters, worked out of a tent in the back yard,

Jim McRae, our shearer came and put on a spectacular shearing show, he announced his retirement,  (although the sheep rebelled, broke out of the Pole barn, and it took us an hour to get them back in. Red is exhausted.) Jackie Thorne and Mary Kellogg came to read their beautiful poems, and the feeling of the day was hectic, loving and warm.

Honestly, it was how we wished to feel about our country, Maria sold a lot of beautiful art, and we are tired but eager to face tomorrow, although there is some rain forecast for the morning. People love watching dogs work, and Red showed off his astonishing focus and herding work. Fate ran like a madwoman around the sheep, and Gus is trying to keep us. He will get there.

I just loved today, and was very deeply moved by it.  It was one of the greatest days of my life, and I think Maria’s, and an  homage of our time together.

I can’t count the number of people who thanked Maria or me for opening up our lives to the people, but I think it is me who should be thanking them. They give shape and value to my life. They have done so much good for so many people.

In a curious way, the Belly Dancing reflected the heart and soul of our enterprise. These remarkable women shared with us their dance of pride and defiance, an affirmation of who they are and what they represent.

Maria cried watching them do their three sets. Beauty is always external, not just external, and these women were so beautiful. Maria has joined their group, but she insists it will be years before she can dance in public. We’ll see.

I wanted to cry when the RISSE kids and Ali came walking up the drive, and when the Mansion people lined up in a row to watch. Life is good and rich today. People just went wild over Gus, and he returned the favor.

Apart from the good will and love of the many hundreds of people who came today – six or seven hundred at least – there was the joy of seeing Maria’s own growth as an artist, a curator, a blogger, a writer, a photographer, and a strong and proud human being.

She is the heart and soul of the Open House, and I am immensely proud of her, although I have to say Gus very a huge draw also, people were very eager to see him work with Red and Fate and the sheep, and sit on a donkey’s back. They were not disappointed, we will be back at it tomorrow,  from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

And oh yes, I signed a lot of books and sold some photos as well. Maria will be offering her art for sale online Monday, if there is any left. We are humbled by today. I’m posting some Open House faces.