Thankful for roads to travel

I am sitting on an old couch next to a window with a cup of Rwandan tea near. It is morning and from the kitchen I hear tunes from Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Dave, a new friend, singing along. He is making blueberry pancakes at the suggestion of his lovely wife, Caren, to pair with their homemade maple syrup. It is the last day of my adventure of farm hopping and I am pleased to find myself in no rush to move on from this place, but instead have the leisure to wander to the garden in the country and pick blueberries one last time.

I'm glad for this time - glad for spaces to name questions, spaces to doubt, struggle, and learn. Yesterday, Dave and I were conversing about vocabulary. I wondered if it made a difference and after a while he concluded that what matters is gratitude: being thankful for where we are and the steps that have led us there despite what we may believe about how we got there or who may have guided us there. I think he might be right.

And so: I am grateful - grateful for the conversation that happened three years ago about community gardens and just living, for the Food Project, for dear friends, for books and documentaries, for suggestions, for a car, and roads to travel.

I am grateful to be seated on this couch next to the window with a cup of Rwandan tea and a friend in the kitchen making blueberry pancakes and singing along to Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Jeremiah 29:5,7

"seek the peace of the city where I have lead you into exile...and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in it's peace you will find your peace."

June is for berries

This marks the final week in my adventure, and like all good adventures, it seems I'll be leaving with more questions than answers to my original questions (plus a giant reading list). And it seems that my last few days will be the hottest yet! Triple digits in the forecast for both tomorrow and Saturday. Wooooh! But it's berry season and there's nothing better than feasting straight from the bush!

Tomatoes love basil

This morning was wet, very wet, and my soaking rain coat can attest to that. I am in a small city near Philadelphia, working the various gardens throughout the neighborhoods. At 7, I learned to tie tomatoes and spent the morning cutting fabric to fasten around the vine and spike. I love the rain - I always have. And so I was thankful to spend that time in the garden, alone with the tomatoes and the basil. The pungent scent of the two plants has given me perspective: I like urban gardening. I like the idea of green, living things amongst the bricks and cement of the city. I like that it provides children an opportunity to know where their food is coming from. Beyond that, I like that children can learn the process of growing food. Reflecting on this, I've realized that I eat too hastily. It has come to my attention that I must slow down- food must be eaten slowly. It must taste good and it must be enjoyed. Have you ever thought about the wheat in your whole-wheat breaded sandwich? Not only must the farmer plant he seed, but he also must weed the bed, transport the germinated seed, keep it safe from hungry bugs via companion plants or other things, and then harvest when it is ready. This is a process that occurs over a few months. Once the wheat is harvested, someone must then ground the wheat to a dust in order to provide the flour that goes into your delicious bread. So let's consume with the farmer's labor aching in our bones, and let us enjoy the fruits of the earth in all of their delicious diversity.

Abode/Abiding

Pondering "dwelling" tonight and feeling the weight of the world. Making returns to psalm 18.

"He brought me out into a spacious place. He rescued me because he delighted in me."

Alliterations are always acceptable

I say this because of three things: freedom, farms, and fireflies.

Hello! It's nice to speak with you again. I've just returned from a week in rural Canada - a week full of learning. Oh so much learning in so many different fields. Sawdust toilets, the eating habits of cows, horses, and chickens, family, fast-food history, biblical history, agricultural history, canadian culture, Wendell berry, permaculture, potatoes, peppers, and so.much.more. For now, here's a picture of my lodgings for le evening. Freedom Farm- a place with many widows and many fireflies. And tomorrow I'm off to urban life!

Going

Welp,I'm off. Wish me luck!