There´s no good way to describe this place. It is so much more tan the work we do and the food we help to grow. It is so much more than the people who are here and the stories and the personalities we bring. It is so much more than the conversations we have and the passions we share. This place is nothing short of an experience…an experience I was meant to have and an experience that has impacted my life deeply. So rather than attempt to explain what is inherently inexplicable, I will instead describe to you a typical day. Feel free to extrapolate from there.
6:15am: I wake up to the sound of the birds. The air is crisp and the rising sun begins to peak above the distant willow trees and shine its rays through the screen door of my tent. I make my way out of my sleeping bag, step out of my tent, and breath in the new day.
6:15am-7:15am: This is a chance for some free time in the morning. Some people choose to keep sleeping, savoring every moment of the rest. Others, like Ali, a young woman from Buffalo New York, use this time for morning meditation. Others, like Margot and Paul, jump into the day with coffee, conversation, and dishes. Some days I go for a walk through the surrounding fields where I can watch the sun rise, the morning mist dissipate, and the trees wave in the breeze. Other days I spend some time stretching under the willow trees. Other days Vida and I will go for a morning jog through the network of dirt roads surrounding the garden.
7:15am-7:45am: With tea or French-pressed coffee in hand, we all do our morning chores. Everyone is assigned to a task, so that everything gets done but no one has to work too hard too early in the morning. Take out the compost and add more saw dust. Check the saw dust and toilet paper in the baño seco (dry bathroom). Give the bunnies food and water. Sweep out the cabin. Give the chickens food and water. I´m on water duty. So every morning I check the tanks of drinking water to make sure we have enough to make it through the next few days (when we run low, we have a neighbor fill them for us in town). I also fill up three large pots from a large white tank near the house. This is ditch water and can be used for washing dishes and washing veggies that will be cooked. We have to keep an eye on the water level of this tank, too. When this runs low, we are in trouble. So we have to fill it manually, with buckets, every few days.
7:45am-8:30am: Now we enjoy breakfast, cooked and provided by Margot. Oatmeal. Homemade toast with eggs scrambled with garden greens. Homemade sweetbread or scones. Leftover pizza or rice. The conversation varies. Jokes. Dreams. Politics. American imperialism. Sex. It´s an open table. But one thing is a staple…the daily farmers talk. What are we going to do today? Who is going to do what? Do we need to run the water? How are the crops doing? Which beds need more attention than others? Is it time to harvest yet? How is the weeding doing? Who is making lunch? The important topics.
8:30am-1:00pm: It´s time to work. The chores vary every day. Usually we spend the morning in the garden, before the sun gets too high and strong. We´ll weed beds, hand water plants, or work with the irrigation system. It´s a great time for personal meditation, but it is also a wonderful time to break out into song. We are always singing. Usually around 11, we´ll start to move to another task in a more shaded area. But before that, we take a melon and meditation break. We cut open a fresh melon and Ali or Vida will lead a short meditation to synchronize our minds and rejuvenate our energy. Then for the second half of the morning, we spend out time working on the eco-construction project, baking bread or preserving food (making jams or drying fruit), washing dishes, or preparing lunch.
1:00pm-2:30pm: Lunch time. Yes. An hour and a half at the table, together, for lunch. Eating is a process. We taste the food, talk about how much we love it, and learn about how it was made. Then comes the conversation. The future of the world. What books we are reading now. Ghosts. America. Taxes. Physics. God. Angels. Drugs. Jokes (Dad, you would have been a hit at this farm!). Life in community. Aliens. Or we just sit back and listen to one of Margot´s amazing stories about her time working in a clinic in New Mexico, her funny experiences with owning animals, her weird relationships with her neighbors, her love of Cuba, her experience with death, or her time spent here. And of course, our favorite topic of conversation, what we´ll eat for dinner.
2:30pm-4:30pm: Siesta time. This is such an important part of the day. Not only does it allow your body to properly digest your food and absorb the nutrients most effectively, but it gives you a chance to rest and revive yourself before the next few hours of work. On a farm, this time is crucial, especially during the summer when these few hours are unbearable. But if you have a regular, indoor job, this time is perfect for catching up with family and relaxing with friends. It is not a time to work or shop or run errands because everything is closed. You have to rest. I choose to spend my siestas reading from the large collection of books we have here. The subjects run the gamut. Seed catalogs and tips for your garden. Novels in Spanish and English. History books on Latin America and United States foreign policy. And books on food. Since I have been here, I have read Full Moon Harvest, The Motorcycle Diaries, Confessions of an Economic Hitman, Slow Down Diet, and Deep Economy. It´s been busy.
4:30pm-4:45pm: Regroup and plan out the afternoon.
4:45pm-8:00pm: Work some more. More mud work in the natural construction building. More weeding. Planting beds with winter crops. Spraying plants that need a little extra help with natural, herbal concoctions that we make from our own garden. Wash dishes. Odd jobs. Make dinner.
8:00pm-10pm: Dinner and conversation. Sometimes if we are tired this is cut short. But it usually ends between 9:30pm and 10pm. Once the sun goes down, it is hard to keep talking without feeling sleepy. Living a life without electricity means that your schedule is syncronized to the natural swing of things. It´s refreshing. And it means a full nine hours of sleep, usually.But there are those nights when we´ll stay up together, dancing underneath the stars or watching a thunderstorm roll in.
10pm: Bedtime. I curl up in my tent, read a little with my headlamp, and pass out with a content feeling of gratefulness for today and an active feeling of excitement for tomorrow.
So that´s my day. Beautiful. Simple, perhaps. But so deep and fulfilling in so many ways.
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