Saturday Field Trip!

Natural-Built Home. Photo by Josh Vojtisek

Crow Creek Farm, EcoVillage, Seed Center

I am not going to be 29 years old forever. Envisioning the future is an art and it takes practice. For the past 4 years, I have been in the practice of sitting down every April and creating a vision of what I would like to see in my life in the year to come. Lately, I have been visioning (and re-envisioning) my future every six months or so, and now the vision has stretched longer than 1 year. Last September, for the first time in my life, I imagined my life 5 years into the future. It didn't flow easy, as I had been coming from a more existential viewpoint of living--a very literal interpretation of "going with the flow" and "being in the present moment"--wherein I prevented myself from thinking about the future, because I was wanting to trust that taking care of my present will create a better "later." Although this thinking is partially true, not ever thinking about the future and thus not developing long term goals lends to life a listless quality, which had left me feeling aimless and a lack of connection to anything at all. If all is transitory, what is the point of getting involved in anything?

This April, I sat down to do my yearly envisioning process and found that very naturally I wanted to look 5 years into the future, realizing that one year was simply not enough time to really get into the heart of the goals that I am now looking to accomplish in my life. This was earlier this month, and the 5-year plan felt a little chunky in my mind at that time, but now, a just few weeks later, the idea of 5 years from now how has settled more easily into my mindset. As I type this blog,  I am now thinking to myself that it would be a nice exercise to look into my life 10 years from now. Me, in the year 2021, age 39, if I could have anything in the world, where would I be? What would I be doing? What would my life be like?

As my exposure to the knowledge of Permaculture moves into week 3, I am seeing and appreciating how much intentionality plays a role in the process and practice of Permaculture. This Saturday, we took a field trip just north of MUM's campus and explored Crow Creek Farm, the EcoVillage, and the Seed Center. The first place we visited was the farm. After learning about Permaculture designs and looking at pictures and diagrams in paper and in class, coming to a place where I could see very easily the principles in action was a very satisfying and fulfilling experience. As far as my eye could see, all the space was being used for something. Chickens were grazing the asparagus field, a beehive was humming with bees nearby, fruit and nut orchards filled the spaces just beyond, closer to the house were smaller plots of things, while ducks roamed the grounds near the house. On the south side of the house was a greenhouse attached to the natural strawbale home and to the west of the house were solar panels along with I believe another detached greenhouse.

The layout and the layers of projects of the farm gave the property a very grounded feel. This feel is contrasted with spacey feeling of the homes I saw when I went for a car ride with a friend on Sunday. We explored a few roads in south Fairfield and all I saw was yard after yard after yard of green mowed grass surrounding the homes we passed. "What are they doing with all that grass?!" I asked my friend, and he, a fellow Permaculture student, shook his head and said he didn't know.

I believe the levels of thought along everything I saw on the field trip Saturday morning is was gave me the enriching feeling of what I was viewing. Everything I saw felt so natural, yet it was all brand new visions to my eyes. The farm, the more suburban green houses off the grid, and the houses built of natural materials on the last stop of our trip before we experienced a peek into a local economy exchange at the tree sale at the Seed Center--they were all things I've never seen before. There is a lot more to say about each visit, but I feel like what really struck me was the feeling and satisfaction of the structures on the land. I believe this came from all the intentions and planning of the developers and owners and this vision of a redefinition of life is what I would like to see more and more of in my future.