Cwmglyn Farm - WWOOF #1

Today is Sunday, and since Monday night I have been here at Cwmglyn farm WWOOFign with Ben Gray. Basically what that means is, in exhange for food, shelter, and knowledge of organic farming (in this case, of organic Dairy farming) we work for 4-6 hours a day doing simple things like yard work, cooking, and cleaning. On Tuesday morning, our first whole day, we totally took apart the milk shed where Emily and Molly are milked daily and washed down the walls, shelves, floors, buckets, containers, and tools and put it all back together again. It took us roughly 4-5 hours to do, and then we made some dinner. This was a heavy day to be sure, but it was something of an audition day in my opinion, and we proved ourselves well. We took the rest of the night off beginning around 7:30 and relaxed in our spacious library that contains my bed and connects to Ben’s bedroom.
The next morning we awoke refreshed and ready to do some more work. Colin had us unearth some large stumps which though tipped on their side, had succumb to the dirt left on the roots and the quick New Zealand vegetation growth. It was tough but fun work to dig, then pry up, and then knock clean the giant stumps. By noonish we finished and went in to have lunch and begin a giant batch of stew, which would feed the four of us dinner that night, and Ben and I again the next day. With the pot simmering on the stove, we were given the rest of the day off and used it to go for a run in the countryside. The heat finally made me walk-run the last mile home, but Ben finished all 4.5 miles or so that we attempted over the rolling paddock-filled hills. We threw for a few minutes among the trees in one of the farm’s paddocks and felt our quads protest. It was a well needed run, especially with our high milk fat diet here. A shower, some puzzle work, and a couple card games took up the rest of our afternoon.
A note about our residence here on the farm. We live in a second house, connected to the newer main building by a hallway. Our house has a pool table, a huge library of fiction and non-fiction, and four separate beds. It also has a stereo of mediocre but well distributed sound. At first, our only real input was radio, but we finally put it together that Ben’s tape adaptor could give us iPod connectivity. In here we tend to play cards, read, nap, put puzzles together, and so on. It’s a relaxed study-like place that is nice and quiet when we want it to be, and much nicer than our former abode. It should also be noted that while we have earned no money this week, we have had to think about money the same amount.
We finished up our stay with some steaks one night, hack pizza the next, and my first ever attempt at Stroganoff, though with venison instead of beef. All went well. When Joey and Scooter finally came to pick us up, they stayed one night, and then we said goodbye in the morning after some pancakes. Colin and Biddy wished us well and told us to stop in if we were in the neighborhood again.

2009 so far

I had my first productive night of Baxi-ing last night in quite some time.  It came as something of a relief actually, lifting me up a little out of my rut.  Things in the past few weeks have been a little shaky, topping out with only one day of relief teaching last week, a two day cancellation to start this next one, and an improbably unlucky night on the trike this Friday.  I gave precisely two rides the whole night, only getting paid for one, as I watched every other tricyclist in our five man armada pull in a comfortable $100.  To make matters worse, our water was shut off that night by some prankster kids.  It was rough, and I woke up Saturday morning grumpy and a little short with my roommates, only to be the one who dealt with the plumbing.

But like I said, I make a bit of money Saturday night, and have been moving under some more favorable winds today.  I also went with Ben to the farmer's market, which is always an uplifting time.  Something about fresh produce.  That word itself suggests the feeling I get: productive.  We shopped around a bit with a discriminating eye, looking for good prices and quality fruit, and paid for our stuff with the loose change that builds up after a few nights of Baxi work.  When we got home, we stocked the shelves full of wholesome food, and this particular Sunday, I made waffles with strawberries, blueberries, cherries, bananas and whipped cream.

And so I am documenting this swing of events.  When things don't go one's way for a long time, it's easy to get down, especially for we Scharf boys.  And though I was making a very conscious effort to actively and positively change those things which I have some control over, it's nice to have those things that are out of my control come up in my favor.  

New Pictures

I have uploaded heaps of photos to my Picasa account.  If you'd like to see: http://picasaweb.google.com/HenryRScharf

The photos in the top right of this page come from the album "Typical Wellington".

Contributions to the Community

I had a great conversation with Ben last night about what a career really is, and how to go about getting a good one.

It started with my interpretation of what a job really is.  As I see it, in the purest sense, each individual is a part of a nest of communities, ranging from humanity as a whole (I will stick with terrestrial stuff) to a nation, a state, a city, a neighborhood, a family.  These communities are already established, and and were created and improved by people like ourselves in such an increasingly productive way over the course of human history, and now if we'd like to join up, we are welcome to do so, but we must of course contribute.  In exchange for giving time and energy to a specific focus, we get a little bit of the stuff that other people are committing.  The details of that transaction are contained within income and economies and such.

So the question I find myself asking is, what do I have to contribute?  What sorts of things can I do well?  Where can I best fit into the community?  And here's what I've come up with.  The sorts of things I really like doing and am best at, don't really point to a natural position in the network.  In my imagination, when I approach the board of directors for Humanity, and hold out my hands offering what I have to offer, they give me a look that says "Interesting, but we do not have a position that uses this set of qualifications.  We cannot fit you into the Whole." 

So what I realized from the end of this conversation, is that I am going to have to make my own position.  The reason I don't know what I want to do yet, might very well be that the job simply doesn't exist!  So, though it is considerably tougher to bushwhack my way through life creating my own road, and ultimately my own spot in the community, than it would be to change my skill set to match that of an already vacant spot in the Whole, it may be what I have to do.  And why not?  A couple of the skills I like to think I have are patience and resourcefulness.  I've been told by a couple of respectable folks down the road that I'm a pretty sharp guy, and I can do a math problem or two, aren't I qualified enough to go out on my own and find my own way?  

So I find myself planning to start my own business.  What will it be?  Well it may be many things, but one idea that already out in discussion-land is opening a combination cafe and bike shop.  It's an idea that Joey had months ago that we've both been mulling over and adding to ever since.  We've got notions about where we'd like to open it, what kind of vibe it should have, what the food will be like, what kinds of services we'll offer, who our customer base will be, and we've looked around at some similar types of places in other parts of the world thanks to the ol' internets.  Of course neither of us has done anything like this before, but here's the thing: we're well aware that attempting something like is challenging and loaded with the potential for failure, but that's okay.  If we give it all we got, and after a year and a half bite the dust, we'll still have been doing something we really cared about for a year and a half.  Debt is something that we can deal with.  But I sure hope the community realizes it wants a combination cafe and bike shop...