Good morning,

It has been a week since our annual retreat. We walked the farm, shared wonderful meals together and asked big questions of ourselves. One of these questions for me is what am I willing to change? 

So I thought I would share from my life and our farm what change looks like after our retreat.

On Monday morning the normal routine was the same, yet tinted with a new hue like looking through a pair of gentle sunglasses. The oatmeal on the stove was the same cup of oats and yet the smell seemed richer. Red peppers sliced on the cutting board, waiting for the right container to be packed for lunch, were the same peppers from last week and yet they seemed brighter. The view looking out to the farm from the kitchen sink was familiar as ever and yet the sky blue was unusually vivid.

Even the "sillies" at the table between Lewis and Lovett were the same old goofing around and yet I found more humor in the antics and more joy in their smiles and laughter.

Change tempted the question: what if my experience of the little day to day moments was different? 

And that is just what I was feeling after our incredible weekend retreat here on the farm. We gathered as a group to cultivate an opportunity to look inward and learn about ourselves. Perhaps also to look outward into the wild parts of the farm and find a new perspective.

Monday took off, like a bush plane on a short runway. Racey headed off to the barn to pack orders for the week and our amazing co-leader Monica and I hopped in the car to drive back to the airport, beginning her long journey home back to Colorado. 

Farming has taught me there is a rhythm to everything. From the rhythm of generations, like heard leaders passing on, to the rhythm of the day, so too is there a rhythm to change. 

By the end of the day the colors of the morning had faded. Where was that brightness, the subtle shift in my senses from the morning? Even in conversations with Racey and other members of our team I felt as though any change I felt had been snatched away by some invisible hand. And then I remembered my own rhythm of change. 

Like trying to brush my teeth with my left hand, when all my life I have used my right, my change feels awkward. Change is a shift in my perspective, an opportunity to try something new, and I am reminded that it comes with those disappointing moments of toothpaste dribbling out the corner of my mouth onto my chest as my left hand fails to direct my toothbrush.

What does change look like for you?

I am grateful for the change in your life that brings you to our farm, your choice to connect with where your food comes from. 

I am excited to grow and change together.

---

A walk around the farm

Monica has an amazing eye for photos and she took some wonderful photos as we walked around the farm together before, during and after our retreat. Here are a few highlights.

Thank you Monica for your collaboration, your heart, your willingness to grow and your family who supported you coming all the way to our farm.

New chicks to the field, enjoying the green grass.

Growing pigs, they are getting so big. Always friendly and curious, the pigs delight in new visitors and new boots to chew on.

Pasture rotation at its best. This cow pie was front and center on a walk for our retreat. I love the way the grass pokes up through the middle.

-Nathan