There are more tragedies in the world than I can fathom. The truth is, our world is so connected, we cannot help but know devastating details of incidents that happen across vast distances. Which is why I have unplugged recently. The recent cruelties and losses have been horrendous. I stopped listening to the radio. I haven’t been online in quite a while. It scared me to know so much pain that I had no real control to ease. If someone close to me is hurting, there is an illusion at least that I could comfort, even if that meant sitting silently with a grieving friend. But worlds away, and the heartbreak was too much. 

I had to regroup and realize that analyzing the world’s problems is not my forte, not my strength. There are people who do that. There are writers who start movements, who are watchdogs and monitor politics and civil unrest. That is not what I do, and I am sorry that I went there. It left scars. These events have left scars. I need to get back to the writing that I do, that feeds my soul. I believe my gift is to share the poetry I see in the small things, the ordinary everyday things.

There is so much beauty in the world. There is so much beauty in the earth and sky, in growing things, in raising animals, in watching little ones flourish. I need to refocus on the here and now, our world, and let my curiosity to connect bring me closer to people doing similar things who are further along. I want to learn everything I can about this sustainable life we are knee deep in. We jumped. We had no experience in anything. The Super Garden of 2012 was our first real garden attempt. We’d had a couple raised garden boxes in Fresno, but nothing grew. So we are very much beginners who have taken on an enormous amount of new things in the last year.

This year, we have even more to learn. This month our goats are due to have babies, and we will learn to milk and make things with the milk – cheeses and even soaps and lotions.

We have been mentored, and we are eager to learn anything we can to make this venture successful. There are groups I want to join – one is The Society of Women Farmers of Southern Oregon. I cannot wait to meet other women sporting muck boots and dirt stained overalls. How cute will we all be hanging out together, touring one another’s farms?

This year, I intend to write with a purpose. This year, I am writing a book. I am currently on the outline. I see poetry and beauty in everything, and that is what I want to share about this dirty business – the gorgeous moments in the midst of all this hard work.

What are you working on this year?

Photo – is horribly fuzzy and I apologize. I was laughing and stuck in the mud while trying to capture the goats climbing all over the equipment.