A good while back I read a book,
whose author, and even title evade me now, but one segment of the
narrative has stuck with me. It was a telling of how a particular
area had been settled. Prospective farmers would be issued a deed to a
piece of land, they would timber it, plow it, plant it, harvest it, and
repeat, 'till it was used up. Then they would move on to the next piece.
It was a badge of honor to say "I’ve wore out (X number) of farms."
The signature of the hand of Man on the land is generally an ugly one.
But there is a place.
A place where the goal has not
been domination, but co-existence with the land - and both the land and
its residents of all species have flourished.
Come with me to Lilac Moon in
northern Minnesota.
Now normally, when you think of
a homestead that is powered by the sun, regulated by thermal mass and as
lush a piece of Eden as can be imagined by the mortal mind, the first
hundred or so geographical choices do NOT include Northern Minnesota.
And yet, here it is.
Exiting the Interstate highway,
for the four lane, through mid-sized towns, thence to the two lane that
wanders through smaller hamlets, and onto the gravel road into the bosom
of the state forestlands... it’s very easy to drive right past the
unassuming gate marked with the tiny lovely sign “Lilac Moon”.
Winding down the soft drive
lined with generations of leaves and pine needles is the closest a motor
vehicle will ever come to "padding on little cat feet". At the end
of the drive, once the engine is turned off, the silence is deafening.
Here in the middle of this
forest is a clearing that looks not so much "cleared", as "gently
borrowed". A vegetable garden naturally fenced and gated, produces
wildly and with abandon, punctuated with riots of flowers. An
elderly apple tree shelters a solar shower, sink and soap. Next to
the garden is a well placed hammock with a view of both the garden and
the forest which lies just beyond a wide edging of native flowers.
A fire pit ringed with stones awaits cooking duty, followed by being the
focus of good company and, perhaps, good music.
