Black Earth

There is something to be said about working with your hands, about building. This has certainly been a large part of my experience here as a Smithereen. Having grown up as a city boy, I have never really been exposed to working with my hands; if you need something, you go buy it at the store or you get an expert to do it. Why would I bother to do it myself?

The past two days have been grounding. A month ago I didn't even know the meaning of that word in this context. I still don't know exaclty how to define it but if I had to try, I would say it's coming back to your senses. I have spent the whole day in Tom's giant gardening and that, to me, is grounding. It's backbreaking, my knees feel like they're going to fall off and I'm a red tomato, but I've never been happier.

Recently I watched a Nature of Things documentary about Cuba and its "Accidental Revolution" where, after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, Cuba was left stranded. It had to immediately develop sustainable agricultural systems in order to survive. It was the commentary from one of the local farmers that gave farming a new perspective for me. He was talking about the perception of farmers in Cuba, where there is an annual increase as opposed to most Western countries. As he explained, it may be physically demanding but there is a rewarding element to farming and working off the land.

Oh, and one more thing... you get to eat the freshest and healthiest food which should definitely not be overlooked when many kids from all over the world, even in the Western world, are mal-nourished.