What day is it anyway?

Another blessing of this traveling and working lifestyle has been my ability to pay little to no attention to the date on the calendar or even the day of the week. One of my jobs here has been to collect eggs, clean and process them, and then label them for sale. We write the date the eggs are collected on the label before placing them in the cooler for people to purchase. Each time I've done this routine the past couple of days I have had to stop and ask, "What is the date today?" I've only been here for a couple of days but it has been very easy to get caught up in the different things going on to completely lose track of time. This, I know, is a huge blessing. I have no deadlines or plans to complete at the moment, simply soaking up the experience as it comes. So great.

Friday night I got to take part in a very special event here at 3RF. The tipi dedication was a very educational and awesome experience. Although I was not around for the initial construction of the 16' tipi, I got to take part in the last part involving lining, floor vapor barrier, beautification, and such. We had a great group of about a dozen or so people come to the dedication and blessing. It was such a blessing to reflect on the Native American traditions and spend time in meditation while in the tipi. I have definitely never been in a tipi with a fire so it was super neat. Fire is captured energy from the sun and as we all sat in a circle around the fire we were very symbolic of planets that revolve around the sun. Native American traditions are symbolic in so many ways. We each threw tobacco into the fire as we gave a blessing to the tipi. I praise God for another experience of such diverse creation and the opportunity to expand my cultural background with new friends.

Today has been a large continuation of the party at 3RF. Several of the past interns, WWOOFers and family friends came back to take part in the tipi dedication and the farm tour activities today. 3RF was on a county farm tour and made the sole representation of organic farming and CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). The others farms in the county of the tour included a horse farm, an Angus farm, an herb place, and another. It was interesting to see the diverse group of community members that came out for the tour. The reception of Organic produce around here is not largely popular. Many other land owners/farmers of the tradition commodity production agriculture came so it's always interesting to discuss and show them something different in the face of American agriculture. I gave a tour to an older couple that were quite impressed with the portable electric fencing system for the sheep and the permaculture practices with vegetable production and chickens. Permaculture (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permaculturee) and rotational grazing really make so much sense on a manageable farming production that benefits all systems involved and makes use of all parts. Many people are excited about the work going on here and the different method of farming so new to them.