"Catch up on the blog" has been on my project list for some time and to be completely honest I just haven't had it in me. The world feels a bit brighter today than it has for awhile, and so here I am to catch up on this virtual scrapbook, and fill my mother's "blogposts tank!" (Yes, catching up will involve more than one post) Starting today doing chores for the first time in weeks and then a walk with a close friend and neighbor are two contributing factors to this feeling like a good day!
But let me back up! We had two weekend trips in a row in January. The first one was just Jason and I heading to DC and leaving the kiddos with my parents at Tangly Woods. As always, they did a superb job of caring for kids and animals in our absence - it seems very probable that they have more fun than us! We decided to attend CASA's (Chesapeake Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture) annual conference this year - to keep furthering our own education and, this year anyway, hoping to make some promising connections for Jason's Shenandoah chicken breeding project. I'm beginning to think that one conference (especially in a city) a year is probably more than our duo can handle. As we drove into DC on the ever widening highways and were in stop and go traffic just for a bit, I once again was hit by the fact that most of the people around us are doing what they do every day! It was not a weekend and this was just the "normal traffic" of people going to and fro in their daily lives. I told Jason I was pretty sure I would not survive it for long!
But we made it safely to Jason's aunt and uncle's home in Falls Church, where we stayed for the night and enjoyed reconnecting with them while in their neck of the woods. Upon arrival, I was glad for a short walk through their neighborhood to a lake at sunset. What I hadn't realized is that while we got closer to the conference, we had also positioned ourselves in such a way as to have to go right through DC to get to Hyattesville, MD where the conference was held. I'm proud to say that us country folk made it without any wrong turns - but that was not without a good 1/2 of coaching from Jason's aunt and uncle and detailed written instructions on what lane to get into and when all along the way!!
We spent two days going to many sessions on grazing, soil health, racial justice and the food system, starting a farm business, etc... We got to connect with many great people doing a lot of really exciting things. And, still, I felt a bit like a fish out of water. The son of friends of ours happened to be at a different event and saw us and snapped this picture. When I look at it, it is not hard to remember how uncomfortable I felt going to check into the hotel. It's just not a space I feel very at home in. Not to mention that most of the folks there are farming at a scale that we aren't really even dreaming of or aspiring to do. Maybe that was the most clarifying part of the whole conference for us - to realize once again that we are not necessarily even wanting to make a business out of our homestead. While a helpful realization, it did not necessary come with a second wave of insight that included exactly what we do want to be doing.Last Monday one of my colleagues shared the following poem as an opening to a long and arduous meeting I was part of. I wished we could have just read the poem and then called it a day. To say it resonated is a bit of an understatement. The part of this that I feel most in need of figuring out is how to "create a clearing" and how to "wait there patiently."
Clearing by Martha Postlewaite:
Do not try to save
the whole world
or do anything grandiose.
Instead, create
a clearing
in the dense forest
of your life
and wait there
patiently,
until the song
that is your life
falls into your own cupped hands
and you recognize and greet it.
Only then will you know
how to give yourself
to this world
so worthy of rescue.
As always it was good to return home from time away and be reunited with the girls, even if the youngest especially was resistant to moving back downstairs. And even if I was called Grandma a lot in the days following our return.
Jason and I were eager for our last daughter date night. Alida had quite an exciting day for hers as she kind of got 2 dates in one day! Due to needing 2 new tires. the girls and I did one of our errands circuits around town and landed at the Little Grill for lunch (which happens to be conveniently located right next to Whitmer's Tires). We played Golf while we waited for our lunch, and we were just wrapping up when they called us to let us know the car was ready. It's a bit repetitive to mention it again, but every time I'm out and about with the girls I feel so thankful for how fun they are to be with and how they make errands more bearable, and actually fun! We had a good time!
And that wasn't the end of the fun. That evening (this time with Jason and without Kali and Terah), we headed back in for a night on the town! We left at our favorite time of day, when the light on the mountain in front of our home is so striking and beautiful!Two out of the three components of the date night mirrored Terah's but that was in no way a disappointment for us! We were a bit nervous when we got to Bella Luna and learned that they could not take a personal check - only cash or card. Our only credit card had just been hacked and we were waiting for our new one. So we had to get our wallets out and combine cash and (phew) we were happy to have had enough to carry on with our plans without adjustments! So, as you might guess, we played games while we waited for our pizza to come. We then took a very cold walk to the Forbes Center at JMU where we were treated to a production of Wilde Creatures - a fun rollicking play with lots of music and dance and a powerful message too. It ended with enough time to head back into town for ice cream cones at Bella Gelato before heading home.
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