Something I knew about myself before I moved to the farm – but that has become so much clearer since being here – is how much I thrive in an environment where I am part of a community.  Although I value personal alone time to read, write and think, being an active member of a community that I love truly plays into my happiness, sense of self, belonging and value.  The biggest challenge to getting work done here at the farm is the fact that the group of people who live here spend so much (mostly spontaneous) time together visiting, talking, drinking, eating, laughing, planning…and it’s awesome!  Although it may mean we aren’t doing as much developing on the land as we plan to, what’s better than developing strong, healthy, supportive relationships within a community?

The fact that it was my birthday this past weekend probably didn’t make much difference in how much of the weekend we all spent together. I’m pretty sure that we would have ended up spending that much time together regardless of the birthday festivities.  The photo above is of our sunday morning brunch.  Group brunches are a (very) regular occurance at the farm and definitely not confined to weekends!  In addition to members of the farm crew, we had Matt over all weekend (Julie’s brother) and the unexpected (but always welcome!) addition of farm family friend Bob who popped by just in time for pancakes. 

Another really cool ‘community’ moment that I loved this weekend was the saturday night birthday gathering in my trailer.  We didn’t end up taking any photos while we were there, but the images from that evening will definitely linger in my memory.  The best image was looking around the table at the people I love and then beyond the table towards the softly lit front end of the trailer where the cats, Fergus and Lola, were curled up on the bed, and the farm dog, Jackson, and visiting dogs, Camden and Bentley, lay dozing on the floor.  People and animals together within the warm walls of a laughter-filled tin can on wheels.  Pretty special :)

I could go on and on about community here at the farm – and I’m sure there will be future blog posts on the topic – but for now I need to sign off and get ready for our weekly farm family dinner (because daily spontaneous communal gatherings aren’t enough :).

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again:  I really love it here.

PS – speaking of farm family members, I’m trying to convince them all to contribute to this blog so that you’re reading more than just my thoughts and perspectives on farm life.  Stay tuned for new bloggers!