This is our first official broadcast of “This Is Us,” a new video that airs every Friday Morning (this is an exception). We’re not trying to be movie stars or TikTok influencers; we’re us as we are, talking about our lives, victories, and struggles on Bedlam Farm. Thanks for taki … | Continue reading
A Good News Medical Scare: I had a doctor’s appointment this afternoon and told her about my new cough. It was sometimes intense. She said this was sometimes an indication of cancer or pneumonia and told me I needed to go to the Intensive Care Center and get a chest and lung scan … | Continue reading
SETI’s Hard Steps (and How to Resolve Them) by Paul Gilster | Feb 21, 2025 | Astrobiology and SETI | 26 comments The idea of life achieving a series of plateaus, each of which is a long and perilous slog, has serious implications for SETI. It was Brandon Carter, now at the Labora … | Continue reading
“Who is healthy? Whoever enjoys what they have.” – Ancient prophet.” White Hen is holding her own. It’s no longer a Hospice Chicken Stall but more like a Hen Assisted Care Facility. She is eating, sleeping, and defecating correctly. Zip visits her daily to check on things; he s … | Continue reading
We helped to fill the Cambridge Pantry shelves last week. Thank you. Here are Sarah’s two requested items for today. The urgent need of the day item is below: Puffs Plus Lotion Facial Tissues, 8 Family Boxes, 124 Facial Tissues Per Box, Allergies And Colds, $13.28. Sparkle Tear-A … | Continue reading
Sue has had a rough winter, for sure. Her car was smashed up; she got sick, she’s been shoveling for hours, sliding and driving on ice, and finally hurt her shoulder. But she never complains or loses her love of teaching and gratitude for our support. The kids always come first … | Continue reading
My friend Sue got me another bunch of white and yellow callas today. Of course, I couldn’t resist. I worked with them and some roses and other things today. I’ve found my landmark, but it won’t be my only thing. I don’t want to do it over and get bored. Thanks for all your very [ … | Continue reading
If people have been abused as children, almost anything they see or hear can trigger awful images of the past and bring the victims right back to it – anywhere, any time. At the moment, our politics are a trauma all their own, and the mind doesn’t distinguish between violent abus … | Continue reading
Not surprisingly, Maria has begun a new potholder series, White-Hen-Walk-A-Way Potholder, inspired by the heroic recovery of our Hospice Hen, the White Hen. Maria is a good witch. She can turn the saddest and oddest things into gold with vintage fabric that people have sent her o … | Continue reading
“Charity Is The Tree Of Life...” The Kabbalah. Above, Kyle is unloading yet another load of diapers for the pantry babies. The pantry volunteers repeatedly tell me that you are all a blessing. Bless you. For the first time, they can store some for a week or two. They never had th … | Continue reading
Photo Journal: It’s a tradeoff. Beautiful light in exchange for bright sun and a beautiful sky. A photographer’s dream. Zip joins Maria in the morning feed. He likes to check in on the White Hen and his buddy sheep and donkeys. Our small apple tree in the pasture, I love this … | Continue reading
“Every challenge we face is sent by the universe for only one reason: For us to become the best version of ourselves.“- The Spiritual Principles Of The Kabbalah. ___________ While meditating in front of the birds late last week, I heard my voice saying, “Don’t be a battlefield.” … | Continue reading
Pandora: Exoplanet Atmospheres via Smallsat by Paul Gilster | Feb 19, 2025 | Exoplanetary Science | 4 comments I’ve been digging into NASA’s Small Spacecraft Strategic Plan out of continuing interest in missions that take advantage of miniaturization to do things once consigned t … | Continue reading
My new camera had some setting issues, so I got it all fixed this morning. I love the softness of the Leica lenses. | Continue reading
Andy’s Gang with Froggy The Magic Gremlin was my favorite TV show, which aired soon after I could walk around and watch TV in the 1950s. I loved Host Andy Devine and his film segments of Gunga Ram, an Indian boy, and his best friend Rama. Starring in the series was a devilish and … | Continue reading
Sarah continues her program to stock the pantry shelves with warm, simple food to make dinners. The temperature is -1, but it’s not snowing or raining, which is good. Some relief is expected next week. Food prices continue to rise. Today’s requests are for two kinds of Ramen, whi … | Continue reading
For me, the Kingdom of God is not a simple or even religious notion. My idea is very real, but it doesn’t require the presence of a God. He is welcome if he wishes to come and is real. It is a reality, a precious place within me that can be touched at any time, […] | Continue reading
As I mentioned, the blog is free for you but not for me. It’s time to ask for more support. If the blog is meaningful to you, please support it in any amount you can. I truly hate to ask for donations when so many people have lost so much, but the blog can’t survive […] | Continue reading
For the first time, and thanks to the Army Of Good, the Cambridge Pantry won’t run out of baby diapers for at least three weeks (it will run out them, alas.) The pantry is contracting to build a new storage booth in the back of the building. “Diapers are stocked for now!” says Sa … | Continue reading
A Three-Dimensional Look at an Exoplanet Atmosphere by Paul Gilster | Feb 18, 2025 | Exoplanetary Science | 3 comments Some 900 light years away in the constellation Puppis, the planet WASP-121b is proving an interesting test case as we probe ever deeper into exoplanetary atmosph … | Continue reading
I was excited to see the sun for the first time in days. It was 12 degrees, but the sun made it worthwhile. I grabbed the camera, slipped on my winter bathrobe, climbed into my Amish boots (very hardy in snow), and rushed outside into mountains of ice. I got stranded for a bit, b … | Continue reading
As we focus on our blogs as a safe space in a sometimes turbulent storm, Maria and I started a weekly video, “The Story Of Us,” about our marriage and lives on Bedlam Farm. We’ll be candid and open about how we live, how we have resolved problems, and how we identify them to keep … | Continue reading
For most of my life, I felt loveless and misunderstood. The issue wasn’t why I had no love in my life but whether I could generate love and understand myself. Love is a profound gift; it makes me feel fantastic, and the people around me often pick that up. True love is like that. … | Continue reading
Maria has a secret studio and office upstairs that has never been seen by outsiders or me more than once or twice. I was amazed when I entered the room upstairs in the farmhouse and saw a room bursting with her love of sheep. She collected wool from her beloved sheep a few mont … | Continue reading
17 February 2/18/25. Maria’s Good Morning Monday Video. Life On Bedlam Farm by Jon Katz Share This Email Read or Post a Comment Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Comment * Name * Email * Website Save my name, email, … | Continue reading
This is one of the coldest winters here known to man in recent memory. The wind blew down power cables all around us but speared us. Sara is continuing to seek warm and familiar dinner foods. Morale among the members is low – skyrocketing grocery process, expensive fuel and gas p … | Continue reading
We got a messy and cold storm, but it didn’t last long, although it lasted long enough to put a rock-hard ice wrap all over the car. It took a long time. I’m not going out again today, and I’m sore everywhere. Zip astonished me once more. Zinnia and he were chasing each other thr … | Continue reading
Photographing birds through a window in a rainstorm with no bright light was and is a challenge for me. I call it the morning meditation with birds in a storm. The birds move faster than my camera settings so far, but I love the way it looks. Birds in a storm have a special […] | Continue reading
If the storm turns out to be less than advertised, I’ll be blogging away. If not, this may be goodbye until Tuesday. I could do a lot of thinking and meditation then. If I had to bet, I’d say the storm will be another storm. Zip, as always, noses himself into the life of the […] | Continue reading
“The highest form of wisdom is kindness.” – The Talmud. “Our lives no longer belong to us alone; they belong to all those who need us desperately.” – Elie Wiesel. __________ A work of art, an act of love, has always helped me understand the nature of suffering and anxiety and a w … | Continue reading
We’re experiencing a significant and long-lasting snow and ice storm and a heavy windstorm. The electric company says we should expect a power outage during this storm, and the trees are already bending with ice and snow. (The White Hen is fine.) When the snow gets too high, Bud … | Continue reading
Today, we’re bracing for a big story; power outage, they say, is very likely. I wanted to get the pantry requests in before we lost power. First things first. This morning, Sarah requested salad dressings (very inexpensive) and size four diapers. The urgent item for the day is Ki … | Continue reading
I have heard an increasing number of people predict that our century will be a century of spirituality. People I follow and respect say this is necessary for us to prosper and survive in peace and meaning. Some say it is essential for us to survive at all. Our society is filled w … | Continue reading
This winter has been rough for the Cambridge Food Pantry and even more so for the people who depend on it for food. For weeks, it has been freezing every day, sometimes below zero. Fighting back with Rice and SpaghettiO’s. (And Size 5 diapers). This weather has challenged food-de … | Continue reading
Every morning here looks this way. I can’t stay out in the cold for too long. A storm is coming tonight, and sounds are getting the solar lamps out. They work well, and high winds are also predicted. We’ll bring in lots of wood for the fireplace. As far as I can tell, the birds [ … | Continue reading
Zip is ready for the storm. Nothing seems to faze him. If it’s zero or above, he’s out and hunting. He comes out briefly if it’s below zero and then holes up in his heated Cat House. Sometimes, he moves over to the blankets up in the woodshed. Yesterday, Maria caught this image … | Continue reading
“I have greatly enjoyed the second blooming, that comes when you finish the life of the emotions ad of personal relations and suddenly find that a whole new life has opened before you filled with things you can think about, study or read about.’ – Agatha Christie. Welcome back, L … | Continue reading
What Would Surprise You? by Paul Gilster | Feb 14, 2025 | Exoplanetary Science | 8 comments Someone asked me the other day what it would take to surprise me. In other words, given the deluge of data coming in from all kinds of observatories, what one bit of news would set me back … | Continue reading
Pondering Life in an Alien Ocean by Paul Gilster | Feb 11, 2025 | Outer Solar System | 18 comments No one ever said Europa Clipper would be able to detect life beneath the ice, but as we look at the first imagery from the spacecraft’s star-tracking cameras, it’s helpful to keep t … | Continue reading
Putting AI to Work on Technosignatures by Paul Gilster | Feb 7, 2025 | Astrobiology and SETI | 7 comments As a quick follow-up to yesterday’s article on quantifying technosignature data, I want to mention the SETI Institute’s invitation for applicants to the Davie Postdoctoral Fe … | Continue reading
Quantifying the Chances of a Technosignature by Paul Gilster | Feb 5, 2025 | Astrobiology and SETI | 16 comments It’s one thing to talk about technology as we humans know it, but applying it to hypothetical extraterrestrials is another matter. We have to paint with a broad brush … | Continue reading
A Fast Radio Burst in a Dead Elliptical Galaxy by Paul Gilster | Feb 3, 2025 | Deep Sky Astronomy & Telescopes | 3 comments Work is healing, so let’s get back to it. I’m enthralled with what we’re discovering as we steadily build our catalog of fast radio bursts (FRB), close to 1 … | Continue reading
First, Sarah wants to thank the Army of Good for again coming through on her requests for Chili, Chili Mac, and several different soups. She got a lot; the warm food shelves were full for the food service yesterday. Thanks also for the boxes of cereal arriving for the Back Packin … | Continue reading
I hate to disappoint the Distinguished Thermometer Yentas (a new sub-culture on social media), but it was well below zero this morning at the farm. The Weather app says it went much lower than that as we slept. I went out briefly in my bathroom for a landscape shot, then hot-foo … | Continue reading
I’m messing up my weekend plans for a day off; I will try again tomorrow, except for the pantry support and perhaps a flower. Okay, okay, I get it. I’m trying. It looks like our oldest White Hen is gone; she has disappeared, and there is no sign of her. I just returned from Maria … | Continue reading
Finally, we got Maria to Mass-Moca as a birthday on our fourth attempt to get there after one storm after another turned us back. We asked Ian McRae if he wanted to come, and he jumped at the idea. Ian was great fun, as usual. We get each other. He loves art as much as […] | Continue reading
Maria and I are trying to get to the Mass MoCA museum in Massachusetts for the third time this week. I’ll take the rest of the afternoon off; if we return in time, I’ll try for some Flower Art. | Continue reading
Sarah asked for help getting her food-challenged families some hot, much-requested food for the frigid days and nights here: Clam Chowder, Chili Mac, Chicken, and Dumpling Soup. She appreciates the positive reaction. We’re continuing that request today, Saturday, February 1; she … | Continue reading