My figs back in August 1911. Not quite so plentiful now, but they're coming along after hard freeze set-backs a few years ago.
Those Eternally Linked Lives 21 July 23, 2017
I want to root myself here, create an island of sanity and love around me, draw my children, grandchildren, and friends here to see me, and contribute as I can to my community.
From my goals stated in 1996-2012
It will be nineteen years in December
that I have lived in this small house in
Moncure, with a garden, an orchard, and
a small flock of hens. I’d already then
been given many gifts: by a banker, who
outwitted the mortgage rules; by friends
who helped paint and weed-eat and
move a big pile of bricks, which became
my flower garden. Even before I moved
in, I joined the fight to stop a low-level
nuclear dump. We did stop it. Then we
stopped three attempts to site a landfill
and ended ten years of bad air pollution.
I worked to elect more careful county
commissioners, then to keep out fracking,
and since 2014, coal ash. This time
they pushed in before we could stop
them. It took a judge to halt that, but
they’re holding off our justice again.
I hold steady, but more problems have
surfaced: my water heater quit; my
heart began racing; now it’s high
heat warnings keeping me inside
while the weeds flourish. Yet people
turn up to help me: Mike, to challenge
the water heater’s diagnosis; Harold
to mow; Merle, bringing tomatoes
when my bushes stopped producing
shortly after they began. Then two
men from my electric coop, got
the water heater back on track. Many
helpers when I needed them. Everyone
has annoying problems, but I’m older;
so is my water heater and my farm.
Despite unruly weeds and heat,
the figs, grapes, and apples are plentiful.
Some rain would help, and cooler weather.
All this help puzzles me, though I’m very
grateful. Then it hits me. I wanted to
create an island of sanity and love. Looks
like I did, despite the weeds, my aging
body and what belongs to me. The big
world does grow more difficult, but in my
world there definitely is sanity and love.
Wow, this story is very inspiring I think it is amazing what you have said about finding a place that is satisfying and full of love. Pollution is something that this world knows too well. You are a motivation for being so involved and participating in the betterment of the environment. I have lived in a small house myself, and I know how peaceful it can be.
ReplyDeleteDennis Cannon @ Laird And Son
Thank you, Dennis. I am lucky to have good friends and neighbors. I knew there were pollution problems threatening when I chose to live here, but I wanted the place, with enough land for a garden, chickens, and an orchard. I've never been sorry. I decided to come here and fight. I've been fighting ever since, but that has given me many friends and good neighbors. Judy
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