Construction

It's Spring, time for awakening, new experiments, and the dusting off of hobbies. For me, this spring will consist of preparation, preparation for a range of new endeavors I plan to undertake this year, with one of the first being the renovation of my in laws garage. I'm excited about this as my mother in law has offered us the opportunity to use the garage as a place to store our things and even to stay temporarily as we begin to travel. I say "rent-free" but the reality is that we would never accept such a generous offer without at least offering something in return. It's an exciting time.

Laos

My mother in law thinks its odd that I want to work on a farm. I've had this desire to do so for about 7 or so years now. To plant, harvest, interact with the farming community, to witness life outside of what has become my norm. A few years ago, I became really interested in the idea of organic farming and signed up to be a WOOFer or a member of the World Organization of Organic Farmers. Its a collective of sorts that links those who desire to participate in farming with those who own or operate organic farms world wide. WOOF has many chapters, I joined the chapter in Japan, having long decided that I would like to experience how farming is carried out in Asia, and in Japan specifically..

The realization of this has not quite come into being yet, but it is a plan still on the back burner, so to speak. As I orient myself into a profession (teaching) which provides me with the summer season off, I'll have more of a chance to take part in these types of activities. As I grow older, I've become content with things happening gradually and in their time.

In any event, farming. In conversation the other evening, my mother in law began to tell me of her family in Laos and how her mother was growing older and will need help to operate the farm as she is very attached to it, to the animals and to the land. With the majority of her children dispersed throughout Laos or overseas, there is some uncertainty as to the future of the farm. Impasse and opportunity.

So to this end..

Six years ago, I had half the story. And what an interesting story it was...in the course of several years, I'd spanned nearly every geographic region in the world - mostly just getting to know how other folks thought. I conversed with the San in Namibia, sitting outside buildings charred by neglect and a war of independence, trying to muddle through the issues of the day. I witnessed ritual animal sacrifice, festivals, happiness, abject poverty, and the horror of no way out. I sat and discussed HIV issues with an ambassador, talked shop with a half racist Afrikaner in Kwa Zulu Natal, saw incredible vistas and snowcapped mountain ranges in Lesotho, soaked up the bustle and noise of Dakar, slipped in and out of railway cars in Tokyo, slept in long range haulers through the Japanese lowlands, sat in ramen booths in Osaka, recorded beautiful music in Shinsaibashi, cried and marveled with the homeless in Nicaragua, swayed in the streets of Seoul, slept in the cramped apartments of Hongdae, walked among the cobblestones of East London...loved the beautiful patchwork quilt of creation set before me.

What has changed in six years? Mainly me. The way that I approach life is quite different than before. I settled into what was expected. Funds dried up, doors closed, and abroad - for a time, seemed so very far away. But when all hope seemed lost, I met my other half and became a whole being...and she spoke softly, of things I'd forgotten, of pictures I'd packed away or lost, of dreams deferred and of a heart that was growing sick with self-denial. This began two years ago.

So I began to pick up and dust off my dreams. I began to save, and I began to plan...