Farewell To Frijolito Farm For Now

The other day as I was packing up to move, Wayne and his daughter Amalie were out planting garlic. Since that day, I have been chasing the picture and easy does it image of them.  There should be a tarot card gesturing hoeing up the dirt somewhere in the deck!  I am safe and sound for the next few days, my belongings in storage and my cat Syd at my sisters confined to a bedroom away from her 5 cats for safe keeping.  I had so hoped to plant garlic somewhere this year and am more than a little sad that I am not living next door to the chicken farm (Frinjolito Farm) this winter.  But is "hard to keep a good woman down" as the saying goes and I am busy compiling pictures of the damage to my equipment, tools, setting up soldering operations,  preparing for round two in eviction court where we settle for a monetary judgement, and catching up on this blog!  I got to my sisters house just in time to process and freeze a few peppers before the frost and we are now looking forward to a Thanksgiving feast at the end of the month.  Time flies when it is not dragging (you can quote me on that).   Wayne and Mayda showed me a few things this year and I am grateful to have been their neighbor.  One of my fondest memories that I didn't take a picture of was Wayne mowing the fence line with a scythe in about 20 minutes flat  without breaking a sweat, and as he pointed out,"when can you remember ever having a conversation with a neighbor while the neighbor mowed?"  I had to agree.  There was none of that loud obnoxious gas fumed Saturday morning ritual that usually involves repairing some part of the mower, storing it and scraping the grass from the undercarriage.  I am always glad to see a better way of doing things as an example rather than just reading about it in a book, even if the way is an old way rather than a modern convenience.  Wayne and Mayda are the real deal and I will miss them.  It was a tough year at Frijolito Farm as the growing season was about 12 months late, Wayne lost his regular supplier of sawdust, had tiller problems as well as trouble with his truck.  I took a load of chickens to St. Stevens food pantry that the farm donated one day, and thought it was more than a little ironic that I had to use St. Stevens 2 months prior for my own personal emergency.  Of course they thought I was a client, and were delighted that I was there to transport the donation of several coolers full of frozen chickens instead of sitting in their waiting room for hours for a bag of food and assistance paying my heat bill!  I was glad to be part of the process that day, and wish I could have participated more in the doings of the farm.  Our ancestors, like the Shinglers, were constantly repairing, sharpening, and replacing their tools, equipment and adapting to the weather patterns.  They were in touch with the earth and her processes in ways that are compartmentalized in modern society.  I have photographs of them, and some of those photos reveal tired people who looked back at the camera with defiance and pride.  I have inherited some of that resolute willfulness that caused them to succeed when they were up against it, I confess.  I pull on that strength and hope today as I make my way on the road to "Kingdom Come".  I travel that road with gratitude, and knowing that I couldn't have made it this far without my friends and family that supported me through hard times and wickedness directed my way.  What a wondrous place this earth is with all its creatures and features.  I will be back to Columbus this week to tie up some loose ends and get some balls rolling, and hopefully be able to stop by and visit my old neighbors and find out what is next in the urban cycle of things at Frijolito Farm.  I think Wayne and Mayda will be busy preparing their Woodland house this winter, and I sure hope I can move back near them by spring and see how the garlic is coming, and the kids are growing.