I was thrust into another lifestyle after as Series of Unfortunate Events, to quote the title of a book written for children.

In 2020, well after my half century mark, my house in the city, like those of so many others around me, was taken by a tornado. I was subsequently isolated from others during the lockdowns, the workplace where I had brought some of my possessions was burnt out and flooded (sprinkler pipes) by the Mostly Peaceful Protests that happened after a man was killed several states away.

There had already been decades of extreme changeover in the neighborhood I grew up in– people moving away as families left for the suburbs; Many rentals, AirBnBs in a suddenly hot destination city that had recently been a much smaller place. The institutions that shaped my youth changed focus, closed. Very few of the old guard were left by the time the tornado swept a sixty mile swath through two states and took most of the houses down on my side of the neighborhood.  To quote Wash on Firefly, “I am a leaf in the wind.” The transient nature of all things mortal and familiar is being driven home hard to me by my experiences so far in the 2020s.

Now the gaze is affixed West of town, to a patch of land that has been worked over by generations practicing traditional agriculture* on land is sufficient for a couple of people bonsai-ed by decades of city life to explore growing a garden, employing permaculture principles imperfectly, despairing over the enormity of the task, wildly celebrating small successes when they manifest.  Before that, I spent time working in** government***.

Married with stepkids, I have a long stint of being a student ahead of me as there is so much for me to learn yet about sustainable growth principles, permaculture, silvopasture, aquaponics, hydroponics, animal husbandry, energy saving building solutions, resilient living, health, beneficial plant and herb identification and use, (insert several more paragraphs of subjects here).  I will tell you what I have learned so far, but if you don’t share what you know as well, my monologue might be brief.

I’m at the beginning of my new journey, having closed chapters and volumes of my life elsewhere. Are you guided on a Narrow Way as well?

*(apparently it involved peppering the fields with the ‘three sisters’ planting of scrap iron, old tires, and assorted car parts)
**(the lowest service sector of)
***(but I was a human being once).