" Looking at his handiwork, Taran felt a stirring of pride for the first time since leaving Craddoc's valley. But with it came a vague restiveness. "By rights," he told Gurgi, "I should be more than happy to dwell here all my life. I've found peace and friendship - and a kind of hope, as well. It's eased my heart like balm on a wound." He hesitated. "Yet, somehow Llonio's way is not mine. A spur drives me to seek more than what Small Avren brings. What I seek, I do not know. But, alas, I know it is not here."
He spoke then with Llonio and regretfully told him he must take up his journeying again. This time, sensing Taran's decision firmly made, Llonio did not urge him to stay, and they bade each other farewell.
"And yet," Taran said, as he swung astride Melynlas, "alas, you never told me the secret of your luck."
"Secret?" replied Llonio. "Have you not already guessed? Why my luck's no greater than yours or any man's. You need only sharpen your eyes to see your luck when it comes, and sharpen your wits to use what falls into your hands."
Taran gave Melynlas rein, and with Gurgi at his side rode slowly from the banks of Small Avren. As he turned to wave a last farewell, he heard Llonio calling after him, "Trust your luck, Taran Wanderer. but don't forget to put out your nets!"
I am a very visual person. Very. So while the concept of using Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles chapter "The Weir" as a lifestyle foundation makes fabulous logical and practical sense to me, it wasn't until I could see the picture that I felt anchored into the plan.
One early morning before work, in that slippery time between sleeping and waking, I could feel the great rush of time and energy flowing past me. Not a slow, gentle flowing but light speed - like when the Star Trek Enterprise goes into warp speed and all the star specks become streaming luminescent lines, so many it almost looks like a solid bank of light, and the feeling of speed is undeniable. Yet, I was still, calm. "Oh," I thought, "just like Llonio's farm near the river."
We are all in the flow of time, culture, nature - there's no getting around reality. But how we are here is a choice. We've chosen to be apart from the rush - not by dropping out or falling behind, no longer by trying to get out in front and lead. We've chosen just to be still. To say, "We have enough, we've found the end of the rainbow and it really was in our home all along." Just like Llonio, we recognize the great and small treasures flowing all around us, some of it wholly unacknowledged for its value. But our Weir, our traps, have been pretty accidental. It's exciting to work within a context that's more than just "Not Mainstream". With a framework to build from, we can be intentional, purposeful - feel proactive rather than buffeted about by the random winds of fortune. Like Jeff asked "Have we checked our traps today? Do we recognize what's become available?"
So how do we set a trap on purpose? One way is the CASA Individual Development Account Jeff has almost completed. The IDA is an incredible program - check it out and see if you can access it in your community. We will be utilizing Jeff's IDA to build a Pastured Poultry operation. As our Llonio luck would have it, the Oregon legislature passed HB2872 last year allowing on-farm processing and sales of up to 1000 birds per year. We are so proud of the chicken Jeff produces.
I am especially excited for the education module of Lucky Farm Chicken. Pasture rehabilitation is a phenomenal benefit of moving the portable chicken coops to fresh pasture every day. We lease 10 acres from a wonderful family who purchased hillside land 40 years ago, put in a house and a small barn/workshop and great fences. The fields have never been abused but neither have the been intensively managed in atleast the last decade. Jeff, in classic I-love-this-guy-so-much form, has calculated a detailed program for renewing the fertility and integrity of the soil. When he first started describing the feed to meat and waste conversion as it relates to manure distribution, I remembered the powerful documentary "The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil." The film explores Cuba post Soviet Union:
"When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990, Cuba’s economy went into a tailspin. With imports of oil cut by more than half and food imports cut by 80 percent, people were desperate. This fascinating and empowering film shows how communities pulled together, created solutions, and ultimately thrived in spite of their decreased dependence on imported energy."I saw this film in 2007 and was deeply impressed by the impact decades of petro-chemical fertilizers had on Cuba's ability to feed itself. In short, the soil was dead. Without regular, recurring application of the fertilizers, nothing would grow. Do you know who saved the day? Composters and their worms. Scientists and farmers and regular people who knew that to bring life back to the soil, massive infusions of natural fertilizers must be gathered, cured, and worked into the dirt. It wasn't easy and it wasn't tidy but it was incredibly effective. What's more, healthy soil is self-sustaining. Talk about a Weir to gather treasures, the soil has always been such!
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