It is hard to read Ed Abbey and not want to take a walk. It is hard to read John Muir and not want to head out to the Sierra, loaf of bread in hand, climb a tree and ride out a thunderstorm while swaying in the storm. Same goes for Wendell Berry.
Take this paragraph for instance (which is at the end of the 70's classic: The Unsettling of America):
...as a people we must learn to again to think of human energy, OUR energy, not as something to be saved, but as something to be used and to be enjoyed in use. We must understand that our strength is, first of all, strength of body, and that this strength cannot thrive except in useful, decent, satisfying, comely work."
Wendell Berry makes a person want to become a farmer. With horses. And now, after re-reading this classic, it is sooooo much fun to see the tide turning. All those organic farms and farmer's markets are making a difference. The next revolution will come through food: we will suddenly be eating a whole lot like our grandparents did. And we will benefit.
So I worked today. After doing the requisite mud work, I cleaned up the property. Good, sweaty, dirty work in high temperatures. Four heaping scrap wood piles became one. Things got cleaned up. Moved. Tidied.
Reading Wendell Berry makes you either want to plant a seed or take care of your property. Joni did the former; I did the latter. A good day! And I am enthusiastically happy!
5 comments:
Did you already begin your new position, or are you still finishing up with your old responsibilities?
Probably will start the new schedule in August. Four days on; Five off; Two on; Three off. Not bad.
What were the dates of our trip? I gotta put in my vacation request...
allan
Don't you think that work might also be in developing our own self-reliant skills such as knitting, sewing, building, and cooking from scratch.
It is terribly frightening to me to look at the labels of clothes and see made in China and other foreign countries. So far I haven't found any place to buy fabric woven here in the USA. I have found a place that gets it's cotton from the USA, ships it internationally to be woven, then sells it back in the USA.
Even if we buy used (which I find myself doing more and more because it is a great way to recycle) sewing is a skill that can be useful in taking anything to make over.
I grew up on the a farm where we worked all day long in the summer, and had chores after school. It is hard work. It is not always fun. But you get to be outside and you sleep well at night.
Hi Jackijo...
Good for you on the sewing thing. It is frightening just how reliant we have become on third world labor for our basic necessities.
As for farm work? Gosh it is hard to get these girls to do their chores. Befuddles me at times. Hopefully they will look back on this experience and (like many awful things) they will miss the outdoorseyness of it all...
Cheers!
Hi Jackijo...
Good for you on the sewing thing. It is frightening just how reliant we have become on third world labor for our basic necessities.
As for farm work? Gosh it is hard to get these girls to do their chores. Befuddles me at times. Hopefully they will look back on this experience and (like many awful things) they will miss the outdoorseyness of it all...
Cheers!
Post a Comment