It is stormy today and we are cozied up inside. True winter has arrived and while there is no snow on the ground, the days are short and wet and cold and we are all moving slowly around the farm. How are you feeling? How have you adjusted your holiday traditions to meet the needs of this unusual and emotionally demanding year? Are you taking care of yourself?
I think these are important questions to ask right now as we move into 2021. I have no resolutions this year, but I do have hope. We have a long way to go to get out of this pandemic, but I see a light at the end of the tunnel. We will gather again and share food around a common table. Sacrifice is a good teacher–I am taking time to sort through all the things I did and thought I would do this past year. In some ways, the staying at home has helped me redefine my relationship with time and rest in a healthy way. Also, I appreciate my friends and family more than ever now.
We are so grateful for our 2021 CSA cheese-loving community that is forming. I will be sending out a note to you all in the next week and registration will be open until March 1. We are grateful to have released La Bertha this year and can’t wait to make more small-batch, artisan, farmstead cheese for you! There are lots of little things to get done around here before the lambs come, but this will be the first season with no major construction projects on the farm–woohoo!
I am teaching my food sovereignty class online this winter and am looking forward to that experience, although I will miss meeting my students in person. Teaching and farming go hand-in-hand for me and you will see some new classes offered online from the farm soon. In the year ahead, I am also looking forward to being of service to others in new ways. Currently, I am learning about integral coaching and I hope to offer that form of one-on-one teaching from the farm in the future. In the meantime, I wanted to share a list of things that helped me through this year. Maybe they will also be helpful to you:
Brene Brown’s podcast Unlocking Us
Bonny Light Horseman’s self-titled first album
And lots of books including:
- Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
- My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem
- Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz
- Why We Can’t Sleep by Ada Calhoun
I want to leave you with a poem from my book Feeding Hour that came out this winter. Following this link to hear it!
Be well friends, may you stay healthy and calm and hopeful this winter! See you in the spring!
