Earth Abides Farm

     The trip to the farm was quite long, but it was worth it.  About the way I got to run along a semi-paved road.  I felt bad I made everyone wait longer in the cars, but the run was amazing.  The path was wide and had tall forested trees on both sides.  The weather was cool and I was able to see cows and deer on the run.  The run was very hilly and the cars kept me from going slow so I had a good workout.  Once there I played with the three dogs! I love dogs! It made me miss my own. The farm was quite large and not exactly what I expected.  They only had chickens and some small beds to plant veggies.  I expected cows, pigs, horse, and large areas of land planted.
     The work day was short.  I helped dig for soil to put in one of the planters.  My group also helped rebuild a green house that the wind had partially destroyed.  After that I went running.  The trails were amazing.  I ran to the top of a hill where I was able to overlook the valley and see another mountain.  The nature running for me was the best part of the trip.  Running in nature was so meditative and peaceful.  It was also a great workout.
     The food was really good.  I had fun making the food as well.  During the trip I learned a lot about working with women.  Being the only guy was hard.  I learned women approach things much differently then women do.  Preparing the food and rebuilding the green house was frustrating but I learned how to work with women better. I still prefer working with guys.  Guys approach the task head on just by doing and figuring things out as it goes. Women like to think about it and are much slower to action then guys are, at least that was my experience.
     The one complaint I had was the trip seemed a bit too religious at times, and it seemed to have an underlining Catholic tone.  I work for Amy and I know that issue comes up among the interns.  It is just something to be mindful of.  The spiritual stuff like the sunset, meditating, songs, and certain passages are fine: they are more spiritual then religious. Some comments and certain things may have struck a cord however.  There were lost of talks about god and some atheists might have been uncomfortable at certain moments and I came close to speaking up a couple of times, but I don't think anyone was too affected by it.
     Overall I learned a lot about the catholic worker movement and what it stands for.  I thought it was great chance for the class to bond and get to know each other more.  I am really glad I went.