On Life, Death, Kids, & the Passing of the Year

On October 30, 2010, I hit a metaphysical wall in South Dakota and the following day found myself driving south. I ended up on a farm in Iowa and haven't spent more than 3 consecutive days anywhere but a farm since. My All Hallow's Eve in Iowa turned in to a week, as I sorted things out in my mind, bought a WWOOF membership, and decided I wanted to spend the winter on a farm. The Burr Oak Center for Durable Culture in Turin, IA, is not yet all it could be, but it is where I finally found direction. The immediate direction was south, but the life direction was farming, and here, a year later, I find myself farming in Arkansas. The compass has occasionally wavered, but ultimately stays true, and on a different farm in Arkansas I decided I wanted to be a farmer, and fell in love with goats and pigs.

This evening I was closing up the greenhouse when I got a call from my boss. A goat was having trouble giving birth and he thought he would need my help if he had to pull it. I slowly made my way up the hill to the pasture, where the nanny had succeeded in giving birth to triplets, two giant kids and one teeny tiny one. They were all filthy and only the smallest was yet standing but they were all alive. Without bottle feeding it is unlikely for triplets to survive and all three of these may not even survive until tomorrow but for the time being mama and babies are all alive and well and that is a beautiful miracle, as all births are beautiful miracles.

Today, they tell us, is also the day the human population on earth has reached (and exceeded) 7 billion. And while there's lots of talk and discussion of what that means, particularly how on earth we can feed and fit that many and more, I am not too concerned, because while there have always been famines and hunger, the earth, in all her bountiful glory, has always provided a surplus. I don't know that it will be okay, but I know that it can be.

And today, of course, is Hallowe'en. It is a time to remember death, and the dead. People were born today but people have also died. And the veil between our two realms of being are thinnest. Let us learn from our ancestors, and those who have come before. In the spirit of Samhain we can burn away that which we want to leave behind in the past, and that which we want to make manifest in the year to come. I want more of this - kid goats and pigs and making things grow. When I grow up I still want to be a kid goat (and I almost was as a very individualistic lamb for Halloween), but for now my goal is still to help people and plants grow. And most of all, I want more love. I want to keep manifesting my love for humanity and the earth and all creatures, great and small.