i love to retreat from the city core to my friend’s farm on the weekend … at the farm, we live with 7 (soon to be 8 ) holstein cows  … they are each such lovely animals, unique in personality and grace …

we live with very minimal use of electricity … surprisingly, it’s a lot easier than i had originally thought … we cook with gas, warm ourselves by the wood stove, and occasionally (albeit rarely) use a generator when we need it … we have an organic garden to grow almost all of the food that we eat throughout the summer … we milk our cows, make yogurt and cheese, and buy eggs from a neighbour …

despite this simplicity, i am continuously aware that our lives are still incredibly comfortable and made easier by various purchased goods, which would have otherwise been impossible without technological advancements and global manufacturing plants … most notably, our vehicle and power generator, but also our counter-top gas stove, battery-operated flashlights (although we mostly use gas lamps), my bat detector and bat-voyeurist night-vision goggles (my favourite forms of entertainment), and tractor all improve our quality of life on the farm …

the production of all of these goods comes at a cost … cost of natural resources, cost of labour, cost of distribution, and cost of consumption … these are the things i ponder as i bale hay, feed the cows, clean the barn, fix the fences, milk the cows, tend to the garden, harvest vegetables, prune the trees, and revel in the exquisiteness of life springing from the fecund soil …

farming is hard work … manual labour that makes you sweat, that makes you exhausted, that makes you sore … it feels so good to contribute to the production of my own fare … even though i may be only participating in a very small way, i am at least minimizing my consumption of mass-produced and well-traveled victuals …

it’s an experience i think all urbanites need to experience at least once, twice, forever … touch soil … get dirty … smell the bark of a tree … caress the softness in flower petals and supple plant leaves … even if you don’t spend a day or a week on a farm, remind yourself that the life outside of brick walls is your raw origin …