Faintly visible streaks of wet dart downward, as puffs are drawn slowly upward. Thousands of plops create a light show in a forest green body. Layers of greens stand firm, nestling a distinctly straight lined, brightly color contrasting, pile of man-made shapes with an electric light beacon. Consistent pattering of rain, a chorus of chirping marked by a singular call coming from a close tree, and wind on water... Surrounded and supported by wood; one rooted, the other carved.
These are beautiful moments here at Hannah's cabin. A shout-out to the Kunde family- thank you for letting us stay in your cozy cabin.
So, I haven't written in a while, although much has passed that I desire to process and share... Maybe work backwards? Currently, it is Saturday which means harvesting. Today, besides harvesting vegetables, we are also harvesting the fruits of Mom's six hour drive from Portland- mainly that we get to spend time together. This has been wonderful. We were blessed to have a beautifully sunny and warm day yesterday at the farm, where after a long (quizas the longest) and hard (quizas the hardest) day of work, Mom arrived to see the farm at its nicest weather-wise. Today, it has rained. Casi todo el día. Nonetheless, both Mom and I worked on the farm all morning, harvesting up some lettuce (new lettuce! no slugs!), brilliant swiss chard (in 4 colors!), potent arugula, great portions of leek scapes, valentine rabano (radishes), and baby bok choy (Nǐ hǎo). I wore Hannah's yellow rain gear (miss you, Hannah), mom also wore the rain overalls, and it was a wonderful time to introduce Mom to the best parts of life in Mt. Vernon- namely Nico, Salvio, Victoria, Sara, y la cosecha (harvest).
Notes:
*don't plan to travel through Burlington on Berry Dairy Days... there is hecka traffic from all the visitors who come for this [fair?]. There were carnival rides set in a parking lot off the main street of town. The ferris wheel and Yo-Yo were spinning. ...with nobody riding.
*apparently, you can temporarily bandage a cut with a wad of dead weeds, and if you do, you look hard-core (as seen in Victoria).
I have a question: today, mom and I bought food at a Taco truck and ate inside their little dining room, where there was already a full Mexican family dining, and a telenovela playing on the TV. It was pretty quiet in there, and it felt awkward. 1. Why did it feel awkward? 2. Was it just me, or everyone who felt it? 3. How can we break that awkwardness into social connection and community? So three questions, but there they stand.
Goodness, this was all today. Well, yesterday, I learned that I don't want to be a large-scale farmer (hehe, Nico y Hannah). Working on a farm isn't always fun. It can be hard. Yesterday we learned to use the rotatiller, and hilled potatoes using shovels instead of hoes. This summer I've learned, many things are fun until your body gives up on you. Like Victoria says, "Yo quiero ir pero mi cuerpo no quiere." (I want to go but my body doesn't). But through this hard work Victoria and I were able to laugh about how neither of us tenemos ganas de trabajar más (had motivation/desire to work more), but there we were, with two hours left.
Thursday was our day off! And thanks to God, I got to spend it with the Hernandez family. We hiked up a mountain (Salvio kept saying, "Ya estamos cerca!", y "Ya llegamos!", *We're close now!, and We've arrived!* He probably said each ten times) to Fragrance Lake in Chuckanut (I love that name), exhausted our bodies, collapsed in their house (Salvio y yo) while Victoria started dinner. Mmm, and we made pupusas, o gorditas as Salvio calls them. It was so funny to see Salvio stare at Victoria as she prepared the food.. He was really hungry but very patient nonetheless.
This last week, Nick and Elizabeth invited me to stay in their home as they were away on vacation. Can I tell, you, it is one of the coziest little cottages set in the most beautiful forest on a small mountain. So, they rent the apartment (old basement) from the most incredible woman, named Jenny. I got a chance to talk with her as she invited me upstairs for a slice of rhubarb pie and tea, and I soon discovered that many of her passions and interests line up with mine. However, her wise way comes from having experienced all these things as reality that to me are still dreams and mysteries. To not leave you wondering too much, after retiring, she has traveled extensively through México, through Oaxaca and Zapotec, and has developed relationships with people there and is helping to provide support to a group of female weavers who have this incredible skill and technique but maybe lack opportunity to sell. So she buys their rugs and sells them here in Washington, creating a direct trade and connection for the consumers to meet (through a placard) the women who labored over this functional art. She has lived on this mountain for 40 years, and has crafted her home (originally built by her husband) to be very creative, sentimentally artistic, and engaging. I keep encountering shelves of books in people's homes, and I always look through their choices, partly because I want to see if there's anything I might want to read, but also because a person's reading choices reveals a good amount about their thought processes, and seeing familiar books creates a connection knowing that both of us have experienced the story that author was telling.
Ahh, so life is still really good. I am blessed richly with loving friends, with the ability to work in fresh air with the most basic and forgotten of God's creation, to rest in a warm, soft place, to eat fresh, "compassionate" food (as Megan Neff would say), and to have a descanso from school and the hectic life that oft will be.
His mercies are new every morning. His blessings have been also. This vitality is precious, and I'm just trying to find out how to pass that along to others better. To bring light, vibrancy, and life with me. I told Victoria, "Ahorita no me gusta este trabajo, no quiero hacerlo, pero a mi me gusta estar aquí contigo" (Right now I don't like this work, I don't want to do it, but I like being here with you). And she agreed. I think that may be a key part of life, or at least life in this age. Laughter and quality stories make work worth enduring, days worth living.
So may you, reader, have a beautiful, life-filled day. If you're at work- be present with your co-workers and enjoy their company as you remember the connection we all have as God's creation, set here to live together and love our neighbor.
Notes from Walking Gently Upon the Earth by Lisa McMinn and Megan Neff.
"Justice involves seeing the world as a place of beauty and potential as well as exploitation and sorrow- and then acting rightly and compassionately in response"(69).
In reference to 1 John 3:12-18 she writes: "How could I retrain myself to listen to Abel's cry and respond?" and "I am striving to live a compassionate and loving life, striving to be on the side of Abel, saying no to the systems and structures that Cain established"(63).
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