life

In the Mornings…

coffee

In the mornings a newly paired couple of ducks sneak up to the winter’s bird-feeding tree and gobble up seed and grass, always on the lookout. But with a cup of coffee in hand, before the day starts, I settle back in my chair and watch them as the cautiously feed. After ten minutes of so they fly off either to the pond a few hundred yards back or to the other side of the property where the water gathers a few feet deep, fed by the trickling stream from upland.

I’m not sure why I find these moments special, but I do. Always sad to see them fly away, I know that I will meet them when walking Maggie (my dog), and we always do. they complain and fly off but by the time we are making our way back towards the house, there they are again.

They are Mallards, a common duck, and are beautiful like the mornings here, grey and rainy, a bit cool; the subdued weather brings out their colors even more. I like that they are cautious but getting braver every day. I like the cool, grey mornings that are getting warmer and a bit more sunny every week. There is change in the air, and the ducks know it too.

Soon they’ll mate and eggs will be laid, ducklings will be presented to the world and the ducks will become parents. Perhaps, with a little luck, those ducklings will grow and have a happy life, only to show up once again in my little corner of the universe to feed cautiously as I watch, coffee in hand.

And when the coffee is cold and I am no longer here to watch I can only hope that there will be ducks cautiously feeding under tree, always on the lookout for the change that is, in the end, inevitable.

It Could Be Worse

Denmark has been rated as one of the happiest countries in the world for some years running (I think that Norway won this year’s test). But, when reporters asked a prominent university professor in Copenhagen why his answer was, well…very Danish.

“We simply lower our expectations.”

Having lived in Denmark for some years and being fluent in Danish, I had to chuckle. That answer sums up the attitude of the Danish culture as I have experienced it. This seems very un-American and at the very least unattractive to Americans. But, I believe that it is true, at least in a sense.

Recently in a conversation another somewhat “Danish” attitude towards happiness cropped up. The interviewer asked how to be happy and the answer appropriated was:

“Always remember that it could be worse.”

This, too, has a ring of truth in it. Lowering our expectations and remembering that things could get worse does help. Not expecting so much and being better than a worse scenario has the resulting happiness, at least in a sense of the word. And perhaps that is enough, but perhaps not.

Then again,I am reminded of a song lyric (Queens of the Stone Age) that also alludes to happiness:

“Ignorance is bliss, until someone takes your bliss away.”

If you read, you might be reminded of an ancient philosophical idea (originated by Socratic philosophers) that says the same thing. As J.S Mill wrote alluding to that idea:

“It is better to be miserable as Socrates than happy as a pig.”

So can a pig lower it’s expectations, and in doing so is it reminded, as it is shuffled off to slaughter, that things could be worse?

Mistakes…Dreams will Be Made

dreams

Dreams are interesting endeavors. They are experiments more than anything. But, can pursuing a dream be a mistake? As mentioned in a previous post, it is hard to remember your goal when you are in the middle of it all. To answer that rhetorical question: I’m not sure that pursuing a dream can be a mistake.

Think about it: a dream is an experiment; the goal is (at best) unknown and even perhaps undefined. Pursuing a dream, therefore, can never be a mistake. Pursuing that dream is always worth it, but it must be remembered that dreams may not be what you think they are.

Sometimes dreams will enlighten, and most of the time they will be frustrating. Sometimes dreams clarify even if they are never achieved in full. All of these possibilities are in a way necessities because having a dream itself is a necessity. Imagine what life would be without dreams.

You must give up things to pursue dreams, but those things are often vague and easily given up, at least in the beginning. In dreams, mistakes will be made, but it is never a mistake to pursue your dreams.

Want What You Need

need

This time of year is sometimes difficult; it is time for warmth but it is still cold. The sun is shining, but the wind is blustery and bitter. Sitting inside by the fire the day looks beautiful but out in the forest nature soon reminds us that it is unforgiving. And so we sit wanting something that we know we cannot have. We do this and all the time know that it is a waste of that most precious commodity: time itself.

Days spent pining over the past or looking toward the future are days wasted. The thought is a bit Buddhistic, but goes beyond the confines of any religion because the act is human. Perhaps we are hardwired to desire what we do not have. This desire comes, often enough, in the form of “keeping up with the Jones”. It rears its ubiquitous head in many ways though. I would argue that the mess that is our government today is a consequence of wanting what you don’t need rather than needing what you want.

Think of it another way. We need food, we need shelter…that’s it. But we want so much more. These desires will always come at a cost, however. The more we want, the more we need to understand that nothing is free. If we want to be moral we must need to be moral. If we want truth, we must need truth. Of course, we need both, but so many times we do not want either.

Looking out the window and wanting the warmth of Spring will not bring Spring any closer. Knowing the right thing to do and not actually doing the right thing will not make us moral. These philosophical ponderings will do no good unless we act upon them. We must want to act and act in order to know what we need. This is, perhaps, the secret. By all means think, but if we want to know what we need we must also act.

Needs

cash

In Denmark there is a term, “sort penge”, which translated directly means “black money”. Now black money is simply a transaction (in cash) that the two parties implicitly understand will not be taxed in any way. In Denmark this is a bit of a joke, especially to farmers up north.

Where I live there is a similar phenomenon but it goes by no name. However, it is still implicitly understood. What I’ve learned from this is that we are being told lies: it is not all about money. Money is a means to an end and the oldest form of money is barter. I’ve found that in the country no one has money, they say, but how much do we really need money and why?

First, money is necessary, but only in a society where there are people that are not self-sufficient. Perhaps the advent of cities necessitates money. Secondly, money is addictive; it makes our lives easy and easy is addictive. Third, as I have found out money is not always needed.

“You can ‘loan’ my sander. I might come up and use it every once in a while…”

“I’ve got a portable mill and can mill up those nice oak logs for you…”

“Maybe I can introduce you to…”

“Tim knows a guy who needs a door built…”

And so it goes. I am reminded that while we do need money in today’s modern society, it sometimes takes over the really important things, like the need for each other.

The Middle Bit

themiddle_logo

New adventures are often difficult, especially in the middle. In the middle of things the motivation is often forgotten and the goal(s) are hard to remember. The daily grind grows like a weed and every day becomes, well, everyday. Adventures, we forget, also include the every day living of life: we wake up, we work, we eat, and we sleep.

But when we are planning the adventures of our lives we are often caught up in the possibilities; as was mentioned earlier: dreams that come true are no longer dreams. In the middle of it all, though, we need to remember that the adventures and dreams in our lives are always worth it, even in the middle bits.

I was once asked why I bother with handmade and with self grown when there were so many more efficient ways to do those very same things. Other than liking it, I had a hard time answering. The answer came suddenly a few weeks later: because dreams and adventures are not efficient. My answer, however, at the time: “If I have to explain it, you would not understand it.”

And so in the middle bits we often find ourselves wanting a bit more efficiency, a bit more speed and always more time. But dreams and adventures are actually built (slowly) in the middle, where all the work happens. We spend much of our time trying to speed up rather than slow down and in doing so we miss the one thing many of us search for but call it by the incorrect name. We are actually searching for the middle bits.

The Custodian

the-custodian

When we have land we do not own it. Rather, we are custodians. What we do with our newfound role is, of course, up to us. But ought we do good? A custodian is a caretaker and the land, if we listen, will speak, will tell us its wants and needs. It takes time and a few long walks through the forests and the fields. In time, though, we can come to understand the language of the land.

I am afraid that the custodial role is a disappearing one. It seems that landownership is taking over the caretaker’s careful and thought out intentions. When we own land it seems that we assume that we have rights to do what we want…no matter what the land needs. Ownership is economic; taking care is ethical.

Out in the forest, chainsaw in hand, I cut dead fall (those dead trees that have fallen and have hung up on other, often young, live trees. Caretakers change the land for a reason, like landowners, but caretakers change the land for reasons that have to do with the land and not ourselves. Caretakers must make choices. Do we manage (if that is possible) our land for beauty, for use, for both?

To be a caretaker is difficult work, but to recognize the importance of being a custodian of the land is perhaps harder yet. This concept is not an idea that we wake up with. We must realize our roles as custodians and also realize that such work, such roles (as so many are) are thankless. In a world measured by profit the custodian lives in poverty.

If land needs a custodian at all, shouldn’t the custodian recognize that their very existence is dependent upon the land and not the other way around. Perhaps, in the end, this is the difference between owning land and caring for land: the custodian recognizes his dependence and the landowner does not. I would hope that most people get a chance to care for land if and only if they can also recognize that their very existence is dependent upon what they do with it.

Learning How to Read

snow-forst

Many of us love to read books, great articles in good magazines, and perhaps less and less the news. But after years of reading I am learning how to read…yet again. There are certain topics that are difficult such as philosophy (a love of mine), and scientific books, even layman science is difficult to me. However, having recently purchased a property that I intended to make a farm, I am learning how to read again.

In the crisp, New England mornings I walk my dog through the months old snow and the half-century old forest that I own. I’ve done the walk twice a day for some time now and every day the land teaches something new. A crevice here, a creek that is burrowing a new furrow; hills and dales, and the trees: oak, birch, red and white pine, hickory, poplar.

Farmers, I think, know what they want, but few know what the land needs; only the good ones, and to know this they need to know how to read. Walking the land envisioning a field but the land won’t have it. Perhaps a fruit tree grove there, but the land has started one here. We own land, but we don’t control land.

Land seems pliable and passive, but don’t let it fool you. It is the master of its own fate. We are ego-filled and short-sighted. The land is wise and counts eons, not seconds. It is in no hurry as its age is endless. It knows that we are of it, and by it. we see land as potential, but it is full of the past.

I am learning how to read the land, and it is a difficult lesson. I am impatient and the alphabet is foreign. But the land is patience, and its alphabet it created. The words ooze out of the fog of my ignorance…slowly. But as I learn to read I realize that even the choice to learn is an illusion.

Material Goods and Good Material

materials

It’s been snowy and awfully cold here these past few days (-7 f) and the wood burning stove has been busy in the shop, as have I. But one thing on my mind has been in these holiday times: materialism. Of course, it is with us in the west most everyday, but during Christmas it seems, well…so over bearing.

However, recently I was reminded that there is a difference between material goods and good material. We do live in a material world, but we need to remember that we live in a material world; a world of things and stuff. These things need to be treasured and looked upon as the good that they are. I was reminded of this yesterday while trying to decide what to do with the two massive cherry slabs I recently acquired.

These slabs remind me of the importance of putting importance on material things. There is a cost to all the things that we buy, from iPhones to cherry slabs but it is not only the monetary costs, it is the real, the material costs that we need to always remember.

Looking out over my acreage, it is covered in forest, I am reminded of how much lesser the land would be without its beauty; I am reminded that this beauty is not wasted, but is wonderful; it is not resources, but reality. The difference between material goods and good material is the real cost of taking these things from the world that we live in and the world we want to live in.

The Armchair Philosopher

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