A Remarkable Shift

We 3 C's come largely from Agrarian Stock which is not atypical for our kind. Our People were People of the Land. They grew and processed their own Food; otherwise they would not have made it and we would not be here. Our Ancestors managed a complexity of tasks based on carefully passed down information from unspeakable Generations of Knowing, plus living in tightly bound and mutually supportive Communities. They studied the Land because they were dependent upon it. Its rhythms and idiocyncrasies were familiar as Mother to Child.  Life was not easy, but what they knew to make it work was considerable.

These last 100 plus years, the Pied Pipers of the Industrial Revolution led Folks away from Farm to the City.  The magic wands of electricity, indoor plumbing, city water, "steady" fuel sources, and an endless array of gadgets made life "easier".  Folks could aspire toward becoming a Leisure Class, like Lords and Ladies of old.  Yet this often meant they were chained to jobs which were less than fulfilling.  Their "knowing" what was needed to survive on the Land was left at the City Gates. Their dependence moved from specific locales to nameless and faceless others on the whole Planet. In many cases, this relationship could only be described as Owner to Slave.

As Baby Boomers, Richard and I were children of the 1950s and 60s.  Our parents wanted something "better" for their children.  In those times, "better" meant more education, travel (which included moving from home), and material affluence.  Underneath, it meant moving away from the Land.  Deeper yet, the Land and those who remained upon it became Slaves of the Peoples of the City, who knew over time less about how it all worked and who managed to distance themselves from their Trail of Pain. 

For us, we knew about many things which were important, but we also came to know a lot about many things of little consequence.  Yet the residual of the importance of the relationship of the People to the Land was still deep inside. We might leave the Land but the Land would never leave us.

And now after all of these years, we have made a remarkable shift.  We have returned to the Land of our Birth.  We have returned to our Agrarian Heritage in small but substantial ways. We seek to reclaim that knowing of our heritage and bring it into modern time.  While our steps can only be described as "Baby Steps", we are deeply privileged to live in this space and time.