Chop Wood, Carry Water

“Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.” - Zen Buddhist Proverb

I have been thinking about the mundane. The daily rhythm of farming. There are many interpretations of the above mentioned Buddhist proverb, but what I take from it is a lesson about mindset. The everyday acts of living are the same before and after enlightenment, it is only the mind that changes. I try to find a beauty and sacredness in the chores of caretaking for our chickens, horses, and cows. After all, these daily tasks make up the majority of my life.

A big percentage of winter chores include chopping wood for my parents’ wood stove heated cabin and carrying water to the animals. We are lucky to have woods on our property with a wealth of fallen trees to cut into firewood. A couple of people, chainsaws, and one amazing hydraulic wood splitter can make a lot of logs in an afternoon. We have experienced ice storms recently that have put many people out of power. And we are grateful to have a consistent heat source that doesn’t rely on electricity. The more volatile our weather becomes, the more I see the importance of autonomous sources of energy, food, and water.

The other task I find myself doing about once a week is hauling water to the cows. Right now, my watering system is very small and manual. I move around stock tanks and carry water up and down the hills with the tractor. This becomes tricky when the ground is wet or it gets so cold that the hose won’t run. In addition, the cattle’s water freezes most nights through the winter, which means I have to go up once or twice a day to break the ice with a maul or hatchet. So I am very excited to be working on an EQIP grant through the US Department of Agriculture to install an underground water system. The plan will include a network of water pipes buried just under the frost line, delivering water to various spigots along the pastures, as well as a few frost-free waterers. Stay tuned for updates about this project!

There are other chores like moving hay bales into the pastures, putting out minerals for the cows and horses, and fixing fences. As my Mom always said about dancing, you shouldn’t become a dancer if you don’t like rehearsing. Similarly I think, you shouldn’t become a farmer if you don’t like chores. Through all of these tasks I hope to maintain a reverence for this opportunity I have to work with the land.

The MoSo Jewelry Etsy shop has been open for just over two weeks and has sold 14 pairs of earrings and coasters! I am loving this newfound creative outlet. Thank you to friends and new customers for supporting my little business. It’s been so fun to hear from people and see pictures of my jewelry out in the world. There are 19 earrings still available and more to come soon. Take a look.

Read all about it!

Macalester College’s English Department (my alma mater) interviewed me the other day to catch up about life after college. Senior Malcolm Cooke ‘21 and I talked about this newsletter, my farming endeavors, and why I’m raising cattle to fight the climate crisis. I’m excited to send more newsletters about that last topic soon, but in the meantime, check out the article.

What I’m reading…

Stay and Fight by Madeline Ffitch | “Absorbingly spun, perfectly voiced, and disruptively political, Madeline ffitch's Stay and Fight forces us to reimagine an Appalachia—and an America—we think we know. And it takes us, laughing and fighting, into a new understanding of what it means to love and to be free.”

Digging Our Own Graves by Barbara Ellen Smith | “This essential study…charts the struggles of miners and their families from the birth of the Black Lung Movement in 1968 to the present-day importance of demands for environmental justice through proposals like the Green New Deal.”

A Different Kind of Land Management: Let the Cows Stomp in the New York Times | “Regenerative grazing can store more carbon in soils in the form of roots and other plant tissues. But how much can it really help the fight against climate change?”

Can This Unlikely Duo Revive Rural America and Help the Planet? in the New York Times | “Joe Biden and Tom Vilsack plan to take swift action on climate change proposals.”

What I’m listening to…

Check out my February Spotify playlist for some hibernation groovy tunes.

I recently discovered a playlist called Chez Baldwin filled with songs from the vinyl records that were left behind in James Baldwin’s house in St. Paul-de-Vence, a town in the south of France.