A Season to Grow

It fascinates me how much the earth changes from season to season, but also from year to year. I am intrigued by the changes in us, too, as we move through these seasonal cycles as well as the daily transition between our "town" life and our "Libelle's" Life.

This is our third growing season at Libelle's Hope. The years are marked by dreaming, planning, and this time of year non-stop activity: non-stop planting and watering and those first two years of praying for rain that did not come. Hauling 5 gallon buckets of water, day after day, to sustain the new trees and plants. The disappointment when we lost trees that we worked so hard to nurture and the thrill when we discovered new growth.

Problem-solving is a constant part of our life. Last year we realized we had more to combat than just the weather patterns as the raccoons decided to taste every single ear of corn, a fox sampled the chickens, deer wrestled with the orchard and opossums had to be repeatedly evicted from the barn. This year, it is not a problem of too little water, but in some respects too much. Our challenge has become how to reduce the time spent on never-ending weeding, and finding the time to pick and process the bounty of fruit we are experiencing already.

Some days this feels daunting, but mostly it is more rewarding than anything I have ever experienced before. Living closer to nature is a balm to the soul. I can feel a marked transition between our existence here vs in town. We move to a different rhythm. I am not bound by the clock and a bell schedule, and we are not constantly fighting the traffic, and the mental demands. It is a slower pace, a more contemplative pace. There is time for reflection and appreciation, this is "work" that is renewing of energy rather than depleting. I find a different outlook when I am in this space.