We started building a meadow last year by taking the grassy sod from the new garden spot and moving it to the other side of the house. The grass has taken hold and is lush and green. The surrounding area however is still full of slash from where the big pines had been taken down. I've been raking and cleaning, one section at a time, and we've been burning the brush when we can get a burn permit. It might seem like an impossible job, to pick up thousands of pieces of broken limbs and branches from what used to be the forest floor, but like anything else, one step at a time and soon progress is visible.
Years ago while traveling in Nepal, I saw people (women mostly) on the side of the road chipping away at huge rocks, breaking it into piles of gravel. Yeah, this is true. And in Thailand the beaches and roads would be swept and raked daily to keep them clean and beautiful. Here in America we tend to think we need big machines and to spend lots of money to clear land and work in our yards, but sometimes it's pretty nice to just pick a spot and start working at it with my own hands... almost a meditative kind of work... sunshine pressing down on my back, breeze gently blowing my hair across my cheek, sounds of summer passing away as autumn moves in. Better to me than the smell of diesel, the sound of machines, and an almost immediate change in the landscape.
Someday we'll have a nice green field out on that side of our house, and I'll be happy to know that we've put our own labor into it's creation. It's nice to have a little more time at home to be working on projects like this. My part time jobs don't pay much money, but the extra hours at home are a good reward to me and I like that I can spend my time and energy here.
Green Fields of America can be found in the Fiddler's Fakebook.
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