Frost
February 8, 2012 § 3 Comments
Iowa gave me a pretty, pretty present to welcome me back.
These are the kinds of frosts that remind you that the world contains magic.
Explain it away as scientifically as you please, and I may even listen with interest. But that won’t take the thrill out of waking up to this.
Everything’s changed. Made at once softer, colder, lace-trimmed. Given that sort of peace that falls with a covering of white, and its gray and blue shadows.
Step carefully, outside. Try not to bump branches or brush fences, or they’ll lose their fair dusting. Breathe quietly.
Wonder, won’t you, at frost’s fine spell?
And then my car broke down
February 8, 2012 § 1 Comment
It’s true. We got stranded on Highway 20.
Do you know how many times I have joked about my fear of being stranded in the middle of Nebraska?
Fortunately, this wasn’t quite the middle. Rather about 3 hours from my parents’ home in NW Iowa. I called my father, as I tend to do in these situations. He said, calmly and kindly, “I guess I’ll have to come get you.”
Then he spoke with his brothers, and it turns out I was only 80 miles south of them. All Dad’s family lives in South Dakota and I never felt so glad of it till now! Two uncles came to get me with a trailer in tow. I spent the night at Grandma’s surrounded by all her familiar things and was grateful.
The other nice part is that while we waited to be rescued on Highway 20, we happened to be right next to a recreational trail. So T and I had a good walk, appreciated Nebraska for a little longer, and tried not to think about The Blue Belle’s demise.
But she is, in fact, done for. At least in regards to me! It isn’t a fix I can make or afford, so she’s up for sale (for the mechanically inclined).
Time to save. Well, first to get a job. Then to save. And to think about the possibility of a pickup.
At the ranch
February 7, 2012 § 3 Comments
Two-thirds of the way through Nebraska I stopped to visit my friend Mae Rose. We know each other because we studied in the same program at Iowa State University. It is so fun to look around and see what all my former classmates are doing these days.
Mae Rose is currently interning as assistant ranch manager at the Peterson Ranch near Newport, NE. This area is part of the unique geographic region known as the Sandhills, where mixed-grass prairie grows on stabilized sand dunes. Nearly all of the plant species here are native, as plants must be well-adapted to survive such a landscape and climate. This is grazing country, and you’ll find Scottish Highland cattle and Dorper sheep on this particular ranch.
My friend let me tag along with her for a few days to see what’s happening on her stretch of the plains.
We explored.
She fed and worked cattle.
We discussed animals, plants, agriculture, and ecosystems.
And drove tractors down roads, over sand, through many grasses.
There is more to tell about what’s going on here. Intricate things on a seemingly simple landscape. But that will be shared, or linked to, another time. Stay tuned!
Travelers
February 6, 2012 § 2 Comments
Photo Credit: US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
More thoughts on dirt: art from the soil
January 27, 2012 § Leave a comment
Masaccio: The Tribute Money
The fresco painters of the Italian Renaissance found themselves in a peculiar position with respect to color. They had available to them a large number of vegetable- and mineral-derived pigments, but the technique of fresco (that is, working on wet plaster) limited them largely to the earth’s palette, because the alkali in the plaster tended to decompose and disperse the vegetable-based dyes. The very rich colors of Masaccio’s frescoes are almost all derived directly from the soil. The reds, browns, and yellows are from ochre. The green is from a reduced clay called terre verte. The umber came straight from the earth of Sienna. The whole Christian drama is expressed in the colors of the earth.
– William Bryant Logan, Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth
Winter exuberance
January 27, 2012 § Leave a comment
2008: Little T with Elsie, our very beloved family dog. Only a few more winters would Elsie-girl run like this! (Though my heart believes she bounds through heaven now.) And Tass, well, she was just discovering the joy of running. Particularly after a good old dog who meant to leave her in her wake.
Wings
January 27, 2012 § Leave a comment
If you were born without wings, do nothing to prevent them from growing. – Coco Chanel
Photo Credit: US Fish & Wildlife Service
Permaculture is . . .
January 27, 2012 § Leave a comment
Because yesterday’s film made me curious, I snooped around. Here’s what I found:
Permaculture is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive systems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. It is the harmonious integration of the landscape with people providing their food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way. -Graham Bell, The Permaculture Way
A few resources:
Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture
Permaculture & Ecological Design Program (video below)
If you do a quick google search you’ll find many permaculture design courses and certificate programs out there. Ooh, I’m having that hungry-for-knowledge feeling, aren’t you?
Have any of you had experience with permaculture? Has anyone taken a course, gotten a certificate, or researched this approach to agriculture and living? I’d be eager to hear from you!
BBC’s A Farm for the Future
January 26, 2012 § 3 Comments
I’ve found something just right to watch while knitting! This documentary follows a woman’s return to her family farm, and her assessment of how the farm might belong, change, and contribute to the modern world and its complicated food system. It might be a bit dated, as it was produced in 2009, but I’m interested to see where it goes, nevertheless.
And I just want to stare at all the scenes of the British countryside.
I confess that I often wax pastoral. I can’t help it, even though I’m familiar with the sore muscles and sunburns and sweat that come with farming. But pastoralism can be dangerous if too rose-tinged. Rebecca Hosking, narrator/filmmaker/farmer prepares viewers early on for the reality that this farm business involves hard work, even “drudgery” – without a very big paycheck.
She says, “Dad often describes farmers as glorified lavatory attendents.” Smile. Sigh. This seems extreme. But I suppose I did muck a wheelbarrow’s worth of manure today.
Still. Something made her come back.
Here is Segment 1, thanks to YouTube:
You can watch the full documentary for free, here.
Kinds of Honey 