My Search For Understanding: April 2014

A few people wanted an update, so here it is!

I wake up to the sound of a robin throwing itself against my window. Either this bird wakes up suicidal every morning and decides that blunt-force trauma is the best way to kill itself or it just sees its reflection and decides to fight off the unwanted male in his territory. Either way, I must say that this bird doesn't give up! My new alarm clock has become the banging and fluttering of this silly red-breasted bird against the glass. (By the way, you can hit snooze by throwing a pillow towards it.)

But my interaction with the world outside only begins here.

After my morning wake up call, I put on the same pair of jeans and possibly the same shirt I wore the previous day and head upstairs for a bowl of granola (or on Saturdays homemade poppy seed waffles topped with honey and frozen raspberries and peaches from last year's harvest…YUM!).

Then Pam and I head outside to the garden…(for despite my deep love of good beer, the garden is actually the REAL reason I am living here in Ft. Collins for the next few months)... I came here to work with Pam and learn everything there is to know about soil, plants, organic gardening, and selling to people locally. I wanted some hands-on experience with an alternative to the large, mono-crop growing, pesticide-filling, long-distance shipping methods of traditional US agriculture today. Little did I know that I would also be learning how to burn tumble weeds, take care of egg-laying hens, horse-sit, and even deliciously cook! There are so many opportunities for learning and growing here, and everywhere I look, something else is fascinating me.

But anyway…Pam and I go out to the garden. We dig, we plant, we water. We talk, and I learn so many new little bits of things! And then there are also times when we don't talk. We silently listen to the beautiful calls of meadowlarks. We watch an earthworm wriggling in the compost. Every once in awhile I look up at the towering mountains in the distance. Everything is beautiful. Often I feel like I'm on a retreat. I don't have to worry about what I should say or what I look like. There are things to do, but we aren't necessarily in any hurry. I can just be happy, little me and go along at my slow, steady, Thich Nhat Hanh pace. I truly enjoy spending my days here connected with myself and with nature.

And yet, let me just clarify that it isn't all perfect and glamorous. The work can be strenuous, I tend to be dirty more than I am clean, my hands and lips are continually chapped (as nature can also be ruthlessly dry, cold, and windy), and I pull so many weeds that boldly just come back tomorrow.

It's not all easy, but I really think that I need all this. I need to be here and I need to learn these things...for not just myself but for the world (or at least the U.S.). Yes, it is all very different from my previous life in Managua, and yes, I do miss it and everyone there still so much, but I am also so thankful for this new opportunity to grow and change the world in a little different way.

I'm including a few pictures too! : )