Day 6: Kittens, weeds and stones, oh my!

Okay, so the cats are the scrawniest animals on the farm, but that is because all of the animals have jobs to do. The cats are supposed to keep the rodents away, which they do. But damn, are there so many cats! This tiny guy lives in the pen where the goats get milked. When I was milking the goats last night--my first time ever!--I let a goat spill the pan of milk. I felt horrible since the family subsides off of what the grow and make, like goat cheese and goat milk, but Tamar just smiled and said, "At least it was after one and a half goats and not four." So I only beat myself up for a couple of minutes. She was pleasantly surprised that I got any milk at all out of them because it sometimes takes a few tries. But I told her I miked cows; what I didn't say was it was twenty years ago. But she knew once I started I was a rookie. It is awesome (not in that fifteen-year-old-kid kind of way but in the grand way) to be a part of making my own food.

Which is what we do everyday, just in different ways. 

Yesterday I had to build supports for the beans in the gardens. It was not tough, but it was very meaningful. I like that the family puts me on a task and I get to just do it. There is not a lot of instruction and I have to use my imagination to build whatever I'm supposed to accomplish. It is nice to work the imagination part of my brain while doing physical exercise. I came to realize only yesterday that this is an art-making exercise. Can I call making the supports for bean plants art? I don't think so. But I have no problem calling this sketching. I've long defined art as a physical exercise, and I still hold to that. And I've also long held the notion that my art and life are intricately and, like a Celtic knot, co-mingled beyond separation and without a start or stop. I'm very pleased that I came to see this in an action that I can clearly point to as an example. So why Israel? why a farm? why work so hard? Realizations such as this do not come at home on the couch or even while working on the status quo safely in a known environment. Teaching has shown me that kids learn the most and the best when they are off balance and unsure; the lessons and information that they gain in those moments of regaining their stability is what high learning is all about. It is poignantly clear to me that the great effort and time I put into finding this place and committed to in being here will pay off immensely, and I am sincerely glad in my choice to come to the Arzuni Farm.

A wonderful woman that I dearly adore said that the place I'm at looks stark. I thought I knew what stark was, but I had to look it up to understand what Ann meant--but how can I really know anyway because she is a lawyer and teacher who uses words like I use clay. So stark can be severe, barren or blasted, or even simple. Perhaps she meant one or all of these. But if I used stark to define this place that I've come to know in only seven days, I would have to mean pure, complete, and (god help me) blessed.

This is the sunset over Ezuz, a quirky
little village that, like most of the
families in it, stand alone by choice
in this desert paradise.

These are three different views that I made as the sun was setting on a wonderful day. I've never understood being in a place where there was no water within a few minutes drive, but perhaps I'm still biased by my time in Iraq. I cannot imagine being in a more beautiful place this summer. The only thing missing is my lovely wife to enjoy watching the sunsets.

Future home of the new greenhouse.

Okay, so today started with the normal breakfast: bread and apricot spread, some fruit, and warm water--we ran out of tea but got more today. Then we went down to the valley to tend the grove. It is beautiful here again today, but it is hot near 90 degrees (Tomorrow will be extremely hot, over 95 degrees and a bit sunny.). So I was given four tasks and cut loose. I had to net some tomatoes, weed the rows in a greenhouse, move too many stones so that a new greenhouse can be built and weed the grape vines. I finished the first two, and here I am working on the third. The weeding is tedious, and my least favorite thing to do. Perhaps Avi will find more grunt work for me to do instead.

So that we don't overheat and because, as Avi says, the work is not going to run away, we take as many breaks as we need. I was a bit hot and tired this morning, so I went to pick a peach or two. Sadly, there were none ready. But imagine my delight when I bit into this nectarine. The food here is so flavorful because it is organic and made with love. I wonder how much my life would change back home if I applied the same methods to all that I do?