The Slowing of the Land

Last updated on: July 12, 2010 at 10:41 am by Mark Nepo

The Slowing of the Land 2010-07-12T10:41:02-05:00 Mark Nepo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

There is a day

when the road neither

comes or goes, and the way

is not a way but a place.

—Wendell Berry

We drive to Bangor, take a right at the blinking yellow light, another right on Hastings Court and then down a dirt road to Blue Dog Greens. Twenty-eight acres of agreeable land tucked between the railroad tracks and Black River. Dennis and Genevieve live there, very simply, in order to tend this organic farm. It’s a sunny, wind-blown day in July and close to thirty of us show up to help harvest the garlic. About an acre to pull up, shake off, carry, rope and hang in the rafters of the open air shed; high enough that the animals can’t nibble the harvest away.

After a few rows, I get the hang of it: pull the stalk up directly, so the garlic underground won’t break off. Some come easy, as if waiting for us to finally bring them like a birth into the world. Others hold back, as if saying we’re not ready, leave us be. Either way there’s a tug as the roots break free. I pull up fifty or so and stop to stretch my back when I hear the wind bending the oaks and maples at the edge of the field. I can see the bunch of us scattered through the beds, bending and pulling in the rows. And something wells up in me. For a moment, I feel part of some unannounced community that has come together and come apart for all of time: the coming together to harvest, to pull what we can from the ground, to dry it out and wait; so it can feed the lot of us when the ground freezes up and things seem rough.

This is such hard work, not our pulling up the garlic, but the slowing of the land till it yields something edible and sustainable; the hard work of these two and the small band of earth-lovers who come and go to help. And though we think of bounty when we think of harvest, I realize that the process is much more complex and telling, endemic of resiliency on earth: the land is broken of its grip so it can receive a seed, then watered till the seed can take root, then covered and protected from birds and rabbits and coons, then weeded to keep the other wild things from suffocating what is slowly growing. And finally, when the edible thing has grown its own roots, we come along and tear those roots, so it can feed us.

This is not harsh but intimately natural, only callous when we forget what harvest means. Only wasted when we don’t make the intimate connection to how this process works in our own lives: how everything we love and want requires this slowing; until what matters takes hold enough that we can break its roots so it can feed us.

Mark's weekly reflections

Previous Post

July 11, 2010

Get a taste of Robert's class

Next Post

July 19, 2010 Grace Notes

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 3i projects current events emotional states Heart in the news Mark's weekly reflections Michele's vlogs poetry Three Intentions happenings Uncategorized writing/books

Select a Month November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz