My Dad and Degrees

Monday September 10, 2012

I'm flying up to Seattle on an evening flight so that early tomorrow morning Kymbrelee and Arycia can pick me up to go see my Dad and Mom in B.C.

My Dad - my favorite and only Dad. My Dad who has always been a strong man in my life - in fact - THE strong man until he had to share that spot with my husband - is sick. Very sick. This is my fifth trip up there this year.

As i settled into the familiar blue and tan seat I was musing about how I wished the farm didn't tie us down so much because I wished I could go spend time with them more often. But in the same breath I realized that there were lots of people who don't have the luxury that I have had of being able to "pop" up to BC as often as I have this year. So I must be so grateful for the blessings I have!

That began a tumbled bouquet of thoughts about how thankful I was for a husband who lets me make his load much heavier so I can go see my Dad... Amazing kids who each step up to the task of covering duties for me... And in the mix came up thoughts of our farm family who love and care enough to shoulder a bit more of the load so I can go on a moment's notice. Come to think of it, I never did answer Jonathan's question about the cabbage. He sat waiting for so long. But I know when I text him in the morning he'll probably say , "no problem I saw you were busy so I figured it out." Earlier today when I told Azul I was thinking of leaving tonight - her response was in keeping with who she is - "I think we'll be OK Janice, you better go." The thoughts continued to tumble. I thought of Roberto's impromptu sales pitch to Grandpa Felix today convincing him to purchase the very last farm sweatshirt and Michelle's excitement about just watching "Forks over Knives" and Joanne's little comedy act about mice who get away with just eating the peanut butter. Then there's Jesus who always says "Mrs Janice you need to go see your Daddy. Tell him I love him."

As those warm thoughts relaxed me I opened up Southwest's famous Spirit magazine. My eyes fell on some fascinating thoughts on page 36. "A November 2011 study by Facebook and the university of Milan, which mined data from the social media site's 721 million active users, found that the number of intermediate links between two strangers - better known as degrees of separation - is, at 4.74... When considering another person in the world, on average, a friend of your friend knows a friend of their friend."

And that began a whole new tumble of thoughts. And recurrent amongst them all was that I am keenly grateful we get to grow food for people who care enough to try to get even closer than 4.74 degrees to their food! That led to thinking about our upcoming FarmDay and how fun it's going to meet "our people" ....

And that landed me back on a spot somewhere near where I'd begun ...
I thought of how much my Dad would love it if only he would be well enough that we could fly him down for our FarmDay. He doesn't ever know strangers so he'd be in a farm full of instant friends. And oh the great conversations he would have. Of course I know in my heart of hearts that he won't be well enough - and that's not an easy thought.

But then I realize that in a larger part than I realize, I owe my passion to be connected to the people who eat our food, to my Dad and his insatiable love for people and connections. If there was a way, my Dad would make sure that there were never any degrees between him and anyone - ever. And that thought reminded me of the land my Dad and we his children and grandchildren look forward to. And truly there won't be degrees of separation there.

Our team

I actually wrote this in September of 2011 and that's when it should have been posted... But every once in awhile life catches you on the side and whips you along and it takes so much focus just to keep up and make each day count that the extras don't always fit in... So sadly, this tribute to our team didn't make it onto the pages of our blog when it was supposed to. But here it is now, a year later when we are again harvesting spaghetti squash. Hopefully you can step back in time and "be right there" with us at last fall's harvest...

Earlier this year we were flying to Albuquerque on business. The airport was jammed with people going home from a big game. A couple of guys ahead of me in the security line were swaggering along bragging about "how great we did". Turned out they'd flown all the way from New York to watch their team play. As I overheard them reliving all the great plays of the game I began to ponder.

I find it a little ironic that these
celebrated sports stars get such admiration, applause, and enormous paychecks. I'm trying to think what real effective good these famous sports stars contribute to our society. I mean honestly, if they werent playing their games - could we continue to function as a society? We sure could. And since I am not coming up with any ideas on what lasting value their feats accomplish - let me tell you about our team.

A few weeks ago we harvested over 500 bushels - that's over seven tons - of Spaghetti Squash in one day. Of course for an automated factory farm that wouldn't be any great feat. But our team consisted of 3 guys who did it all by hand. Translate that - 3 guys got 15,000 pounds of spaghetti squash off the field and into the cooler in one day. I want to dare any sports star - or you for that matter - to work all day in the field picking, boxing, and lugging that much weight around in the scorching sun. You think that football players work hard - hmph - you oughta see our team! First off football games don't last all day and during the game the players seem to spend half the game either huddling or standing around watching the other team huddle. Our team doesn't have time to huddle - they know the urgency of getting the squash out of the field and into the warehouse. And they are constantly bending, lifting, throwing, catching, hoisting, and carrying to meet that goal.

And if you think sports stars are coordinated - well I wish you could see our team! It is spectacular to watch them. They toss those squash so fast that no one dares to miss a beat. And in the same instant that you catch one squash you've got to be carefully putting it in the box while you watch for the next squash shooting your way. And there is no pausing in the pace.
Then there's the guy who tosses the bushel boxes up to the other guy on the Gator. Yeah they just toss them on. Ha! Imagine keeping up a rapid pace of tossing 30 pound boxes through the air. Or how about the catcher - he has to catch them, set them down squarely on the pallet, and be poised to catch the next box. All in one blink. I'm sure it would only take one thunck of a box landing in my arms to flip me off the side of the Gator.

But they do it. And they keep up the pace all day. There aren't any cheerleaders dancing in the sun with them. Not one of them has ever made it into sports illustrated. And, trust me, no one on this team gets super sized paychecks.

This is the real stuff of life. These are the real heroes who are growing and harvesting real food - substantial sustainable food. Food that has a story fraught with the commitment and sacrifices that our teammembers made to help get it to our tables.

So the next time you hack open a spaghetti squash or crunch into one of our crisp cucumbers or get squirted by our juicy tomatoes - remember that you too have bragging rights. By choosing our food, every bite you take cheers us on!

On behalf of the team - Thanks for joining us on this productive
journey to better health.

Hungry for Change

Recently we watched a great documentary called "Hungry for Change". It is definitely a worthwhile watch. It reminded us again that the effort to grow fresh sustainable food that carries its flavor right onto your plate is definitely worth it.

The documentary outlined the change that has taken place in North America over the years. Wow what changes there have been! And certainly not for the better.

But the good news is that now that people have experienced first hand the devastating effects of industrialized agriculture -- change has been happening again. This time it's a good change. A change that is sweeping into communities across North America. And it's a change that makes us recognize and deepky appreciate the life changing value of real food grown by people who care.

If you get a chance watch the movie - I think you'll be glad you did. And like me, it may deepen your resolve to be Hungry for the Changes that make our lives and the lives of our neighbors better.

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Location:Bell Ranch Rd,Willcox,United States