No.816: Last Week at the Farmhouse // Putting Down Roots

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I recently finished Grace Olmstead’s book, Uprooted: Recovering the Legacy of the Places We’ve Left Behind, and while it wasn’t a 5-star read, it has made me think about what it means to belong to a place.  I am the daughter of a military officer. In my eighteen years of childhood, I lived in five states (some multiple times, but in different cities) and ten different houses. When people ask me where I’m from, I always awkwardly hesitate, then reply, “I grew up in a military family. I guess I’m from everywhere and nowhere.”

I think that statement is why I’m so attracted to the idea of old-fashioned community and putting down roots. Growing up the way I did, the only roots I knew were my grandmothers and extended relatives, hours and hours away.  I was always so jealous of the comfortable way they knew their neighbors, their favorite businesses.  I was always in awe of the way my grandmother would read the obituaries, telling me entire family trees and stories about how she knew the deceased.  What is that like?  To have history with a single place?  To know it and its people inside and out?

I want to place deep roots into this farm and this community.  I want to plant trees for future generations to enjoy.  I want to support my fellow farmers.  I want to offer our products, time and talents to those that need them.  In a world that increasingly feels like a concrete jungle of isolated individuals, this often feels like a lost cause.  But I’m stubborn and I want to try.  Like Hadden Turner said, “If I don’t care for my local area who else will? There are millions of people looking to care for the globe, but few to care for the places that are right in front of them.”

Hoping to document the abundance around me all year long!

Around here, abundance looks like…

+ SPRING BREAK.  I had a ton of work to do outside, but the rainy weather forced me inside to rest instead.  An unexpected blessing.

+ going off carnivore for the first time in 60ish days.  I’ll keep this brief because nobody cares, but here are my observances: Fresh fruit was super sweet and I felt nothing negative.  I ate a tiny bit of Easter candy, could feel the sugar surging through my body and immediately felt terrible.  On another day, I had a fresh biscuit and while it didn’t make me sick, it sat in my stomach differently than when I eat carnivore.  So going forward, I’m steering far away from white sugar, will occasionally have bread products and will have to be careful not to eat my weight in fruit, ha!

+ decluttering like a crazy woman.  I started by simplifying my dresser drawers, asking all the questions: Is it too big?  too old?  never worn?  I moved on to my closet and even completely organized all of my resale packing materials while I was in there – I no longer look like a hoarder and a fire hazard!

+ planning the end of this school year and looking ahead to the next.  What a weird space to be in as we start phasing out students and working through the last time of each grade with the youngest.  I’ll never have another first grader!  So bittersweet.

+ reaching 100 days on my “50 pages a day” reading streak on Storygraph!

+ selling nine unneeded items for the Farm Sitter Vacation Fund: seven pieces of clothing, a pair of sandals and a book.  After shipping and fees, I made $88.10!

Reading //

• Where You Are Is Where You Are from Hadden Turner at Over the Field // SO good and inspiring.

You are not responsible for the whole world — far from it. But you are responsible for the local places in front of you: the local people who you relate to, the unique buildings, art, and beauty that you enjoy every day, and the local environments and habitats that surround the place you dwell. Where you are is where you are — and what you are responsible for. This is a burden heavy enough for us. This is a burden that matches our limitations. This is a burden that we can faithfully discharge. And this is a burden that will present us with a lifetime of opportunities for doing good.

• The Conservative Case for Remote Work from Public Discourse
• Keep Your Money Close from Jane Clark Scharl at Plough // “What am I giving up when I hand my money over to Amazon in exchange for fast delivery and a wide range of mediocre goods? And why do I feel a stab of guilt when I hit that ‘buy now’ button, even when the purchase is a responsible one, meaning it is built into my budget and is something my family needs?”  There’s a great list of alternative ideas at the end of the article too.
• On the Importance of Place from Dale M. Coulter at First Things

Watching/Listening //

• Christ the Logos: An Interview with Andrew Kern from The Commonplace // A beautiful and inspiring conversation.
• Easter at Ephesus sung by the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles // These are Sr. Wilhelmina’s sisters.  My husband says that their beautiful voices put him right to sleep, ha!

Loving //

• How My Grandma Taught Me to Live in the Light of Resurrection from Stacey Huneck at Radiant Magazine //  “As a young girl, my faith had the fortune of taking root in this fertile soil through the witness of my grandmother.”  So beautiful.  I hope to be that grandmother someday.  (Just like mine!)
• From Slave to Priest: The Inspirational Story of Father Augustine Tolton by Caroline Hemesath, OSF // Really, really enjoying this book.  After reading about Augustine’s efforts to catechize the local children, I stopped to ponder the lovely section below.  Our actions matter!

“Oh no, Father, they can’t read,” replied Augustine.  “They have never been to school, and their parents haven’t either.  The children will learn by watching and listening.”

“Watching and listening,” repeated Father Richardt.  “What do you mean?”

“Well, Father,” explained the youth, “the children must hear us say the prayers and the catechism and watch us do things like going to church and see how Mass is celebrated and how we do things in church.  They must watch us receive Holy Communion and go to confession.  They have to hear the priest read the Epistle and Gospels and listen to the sermons and instructions.  That is the way they will learn.  That is the way I learned.”  Augustine recalled the many times he had “celebrated Mass” for his alley playmates and how they had participated as Mass servers, choir, congregation, and communicants.  (A true Montessorian!) – p.97