Fate is something of a wild and impulsive creature, she tears around the farm like a obsessive maniac much of the time, and at other times, she seems to forget that she is not a puppy any longer but a big dog.
Fate has a great and loving hear, which is perhaps why she can’t bear to push the sheep around. Several times a week she climbs up on the footstool and just falls over into my lap for some hugging and belly scratching.
She loves to lean into my face even if she smushes my glasses. I admit to loving these cuddle sessions, I love Fate, she is unlike any other dog or border collie I have ever been privileged to live with. I guess we both need to do this sometimes.
I am always grateful when someone at the Mansion asks me for help for the residents, and I can provide it. It feels very good. This week, a chance to help Joan in an important way.
She’s getting a radio and some music CD’s.
The Mansion staff had a meeting the other day and they talked about Joan, who is much loved there but who is dealing with deepening memory issues. Sometimes she is restless and anxious -at times, she does not understand the world she is living in, a disturbing thing for anyone.
They meet several times a week to talk about the resident’s needs, and they figure out when to enlist me.
The staff has seen that music brings her joy and calms her.
Kassi took Joan for a ride the other day and plugged her smartphone into the speaker and she saw how peaceful and happy Joan was while she was listening, and they drove around.
Joan loves to dance and sing, music brings her great joy and calm.
I’m planning a ride with Joan this week – her sister has granted permission – Maria and I will pick her up and take her for a spin to Vermont, or to look at some pretty hills. I’d like to do this often.
I was asked by the staff if I could help get Joan a small radio for her room, and some music CD’s for her to play, to help her feel safe and at ease. This is not as simple as it sounds, as Joan tends to pack up her things every night because she thinks she’s going home in the morning.
Gifts and books and stuffed animals and paintings for the walls seem to disappear.
Also, Joan will not be able to set up the CD or use the CD’s, so it needs to have Blue Tooth capacity, so other people can also use it with their smartphones or tablets.
People like me and the staff.
I would love to sit and listen to music with Joanie. So would Maria, I imagine.
I found the right CD Player on Amazon for $59.99, it not only has Bluetooth but wall mounts so we can attach the player right to the wall, and Joan can’t pack it away.
I also ordered five CD’s from musicians I know she loves – Willie Nelson, the Beatles, and Fleetwood Mac. These are among Joanie’s favorites, she loves older rock music and mainstream country music.
I bought Legend, the Best of William Nelson; Magical Mystery Tour, Rubber Soul, Abbey Road from the Beatles, and The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac.
I bought the CD player and the five CD’s, they are on the way.
If any of you out there have music CD’s that are older, and were recorded in the 80’s and 90’s, it would be helpful if you sent them along, c/o Joan to Joan’s Music, 11 S.Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.
Please don’t send more than one or two as we’ll get swamped – the Army Of Good can be frightening sometimes – but we can store any extras.
And thanks. Joan has a a beautiful spirit, and music touches her soul and brings it peace in a way almost nothing else does.
It’s been a very hot summer, full of bugs and humidity, we haven’t done nearly as much walking in the morning as we usually do. We did go out together this morning, it’s finally cooler and drier. The meadow is thick and lush this year, almost impassable for the dogs or for us.
But it is still beautiful in its own way, and I took this photo with my Achromat Art Lens. I love the softness and texture of the meadow.
Mansion Activities Director Julie Smith had a great idea for a new activity for the residents that directly involves the Army Of Good, who live in every part of America and much of the Western World.
And it’s free.
“I just had a thought,” she wrote, “it would be great fun for the residents if you asked people from the blog to send a little note with information about the town or area they live in. I thought I would start a new activity where we would add their town on a map of the United States and talk about it.”
I posted this yesterday and Julie immediately got a bunch of e-mails with short descriptions of different towns and some local photo. Julie’s e-mail is [email protected]. She is forever looking for new and interesting activities for the residents.
You can e-mail her a short description of your town and send a photo of you wish (optional) or mail you comments – two or three paragraphs — to the Mansion if you prefer, c/o Julie, The Town Project, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.
I love this project. For one thing, it is free. For another, it is simple. And I can picture the wonderful map Julie plans make out of your messages and photos. This could be a living and continuous project that connects people of good heart with people of great need.
This kind of project is more important than it might seem.
The residents often tell me they feel abandoned and forgotten – no longer true, thanks to the Army Of Good, and they love being noticed and spoken to and remembered. They are also intensely curious about the outside world.
Many of the residents grew up in rural upstate New York and have little experience with the world beyond.
They are fascinated by your letters and messages, so if you can take a minute or so to write a few paragraphs about your town and e-mail or mail it to Julie, that would make a big difference and do a lot of good.
The residents also love our Pen Pal program, some can’t respond to your letters, but everyone I talk to loves getting them. They answer when they can.
If you wish to write to the Mansion residents, here is a current list of residents who wish to receive your messages. You can send them to The Mansion, 11 S. Union Avenue, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816.
I can’t give out full names, nor am I permitted to update you on their medical or emotional conditions unless they give me specific permission and I clear it with the staff.
Here they are: Winnie, Ellen, Matt, Gary, Gerry, Sylvie, Diane, Alice, Jean, Madeline, Joan, Allan, Bill, Blanche, Helen, Alanna, Peggie, Dottie, Tim, Art, Jackie, Brenda, Wayne, Kenneth, Ruth.
The Great Recession changed many people’s lives, including mine. As the publishing world as I knew it collapsed – my longtime editor was laid off and I was orphaned – and royalties and book contracts disappeared and shrank, I knew I had to change.
I’ve written 26 books, but it didn’t really matter. I swore I would be a writer, no matter what it takes. That’s why I started my blog
If I was to continue to be a relevant writer, it was up to my blog to keep my writing and to also help support me.
Four years ago, I reluctantly and uncomfortably began asking to be paid for my work, I asked readers to contribute to the blog and my photography – both expensive to maintain – through voluntary payments and donations.
Although a very small fraction of my many readers (bless you) contribute to the blog, this idea has been a success. There are four million visits a year to the blog, and many of you have supported my work with contributions and donations and that has made an enormous difference in my life.
To be honest, I’m reluctant to ask for money for me when I’m asking for money for the Mansion residents and refugees so often. That money goes into separate accounts, it only goes to them, not to me.
This year, I am embarking on a $4,000 re-design of the blog, so necessary in order to keep up with the smart phone and Internet infrastructure changes and revolution. You cannot survive and grow online without investing in yourself, and keeping up.
Photography is not a hobby for me, it is my work, and it is also expensive. I take pictures of everything I write about.
The blog is the engine that supports all of my work – my photography, writing, Mansion work, refugee work, soccer team work. I realized this morning – actually Maria realized this morning – that I have not asked for support for myself for nearly six months or reminded people that that this is important and necessary for me.
So I’m asking for support now, and reminding people that the blog cannot grow and survive without it.
The subscription and voluntary payment programs are inexpensive, safe and simple to use. And safe.
No financial information of any kind is stored on my site or servers. You can cancel subscriptions or voluntary payments at any time, and easily (the program warns people of renewals a week before they are due).
One time donations can be given in any amount, and at any time through Paypal or any major credit cards. People who don’t use the Internet can also support my work by sending a donation to my Post Office Box – Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816, or via Paypal, [email protected].
Please consider supporting my work if you enjoy it or find it meaningful. In our divided culture, we are more and more turning only to people who agree with us, and that is not my way. Anyone is welcome here, and I don’t need to always be agreed with, in fact, it has never happened.
I hope the blog has always been a force for good and compassion, even if you sometimes disagree with me. That is the way a democracy is supposed to function.
If you wish to subscribe to the blog, you can choose three different monthly voluntary subscription programs – $,5, $10 a month, or $75 a year. If you have no money or are stressed financially, the blog is free and will always be free to those who can’t pay or donate.
You can subscribe for free by inserting your email in the subscription box at the top of the Farm Journal Page .
And you can make a one-time donation at any time for any amount here.
I will never turn my back on the many people who have supported me from the beginning. But I have come to see that it is important to be paid for my work, just as you are paid for yours.
This is the new world of writing, and I am proud and happy to be a part of it.
I work hard on my blog, I write just about every day, often more than once, the subject matter has grown, and I believe deepened. I write about my life, spirituality, dogs and animals, rural life and the Army Of Good, a miraculous outgrowth of the blog.
People tell me it matters to them, and my readers are now all over the country, including Hawaii. The blog is also read in England, Australia, and New Zealand.
Since 2016, the blog has made a turn, it is dedicated to small acts of kindness, to doing good rather than adding to the dispiriting din of argument, cruelty and conflict.
I guess I need support to, for my own life and well being, and for the people I am now trying to help.
I believe the blog has become more important every year, and I mean to keep it that way. If you wish to continue reading the blog and want it to continue, I would welcome your help.
I thank the very good people who have supported it from the beginning, in so many different ways. i will work hard to make you think, laugh, cry and learn.
