Hi all!
Who knew that life in a small college town could have such a diverse and subversive counterculture? I didn’t, and I have spent years here (ouch!).
I recently became aware of a small artisan community that exists in town, artists who make a living by dying wool, composing music, growing produce, raising sheep, and so on. While I have searched all my life for a way to live a peaceful life that is consistent with my moral values and love for the world in which we live, finding real life examples has been hard on my life path. To be honest, I had not done a lot of “seeking these people out.”
Lately, however, the more I delve into the world of “art” the more the “art world” reaches out to me. Mutual attraction of beliefs and so on.
To the point!
I met a really cool guy who lives on a farm, recently. He was kind enough to show me his way of life, his lifestyle, and the benefits of farm life. The peace that I felt walking amongst the tall yellow winter grass, land that could be tilled one day for a harvest, which he intended to use as a grazing pasture for sheep, was a stronger force than I had reckoned. The rabbits, guinea fowls, and chickens he is raising felt like a giant flock of babies that would one day range free and sow more life. It was blessed. It was beautiful. I felt for the first time, how farmers could love to live on the land, working the earth with their hands day in and day out, tilling the soil, planting the crops, tending the crops, and the thankfulness of the harvest and the pleasure of surviving the incoming winter.
It was the most beautiful thing I have had the chance to experience in a while, notwithstanding my natural love of the forests and lakes that surround the town.
Afterwards, when I read “The Wild Birds” by Wendell Berry, I had greater understanding of the characters Berry so expertly weaves, depicting farm life in a changing environment that increasingly is drawn to the city lifestyle, away from the land. And, when I finished reading “The Man Who Quit Money” a day earlier, I also felt a similar exhilaration for living as one with nature, enjoying the journey and the harvest.
Thank you for letting me experience this! Is all I wish to say. Life on earth is truly awesome.
