Recalled to Life

"You have been then buried? For how long?"

"[Two years]"

"And you have been recalled to life?"

"Yes it seems that it is so"

- A Tale of Two Cities

It appears, through some twist of fate perhaps, that our exile from our home country, an exile we expected to endure a decade or so, has been called short. This, through no little help from friends and colleagues, has as Patt has put it...

"Taken us back to where we were just prior to losing our home by fire."

I assume she also implies here, prior to my husband losing his mind, quitting the best job he's ever had, just when we were completely out of debt, and in some, Mosquito Coast kind of adventure decided to try Survivor Arkansas on our little farm. I can not disagree with her on this.

We have that chance. In early December Arkansas Children's Hospital called me to let me know there was a position open and that I could apply if I wanted to. I did. I applied, and several telephone conversations later, I accepted a position working for the guy that replaced me when I left. Perhaps enough time had gone by that the awkwardness of my returning had dissipated. I don't care. I am just happy to be coming home - eventhough there are things and people I will miss in Louisville - dare I say it? "There is no place like home." I was always taught in school to avoid jargon, trite, or overused statements when writing but there is something to be said for using wornout phrases when they become so worn out and overused that their trite nature are overshadowed by irony.

When asked by my brother, why would you go back to Perryville Arkansas? I explained that Perryville is kind of like a big butt zit that some times flares up and causes one some pain, but after a while you just get used to it. Squeeze it, scratch it from time to time but then it settles down and just becomes a part of you. It's just home. It has become a part of us.

Patt tells me she is happy too. I believe her.

Shamrock and Thistle Farm will once again begin producing and we can't wait to see all of our friends, customers and fellow sellers alike. Sadly, we will not be producing the succulent baked goods our customers had grown to love, instead concentrating on produce and other specialty items we can raise on the farm. Of course, we will return to tried and true methods of Old Solar Agriculture with little or no use of fossil fuels and no pesticides or artificial fertilizers. Every row, every hole, every seed, is hand dug, hand poked, and hand set into the soil. Every fruit, vegetable, and stalk is nurtured, cut, washed, and sold by hand. Every harmful insect, varmint, every blight is dealt with by hand. It;s the old way. It's the slow way. It's the natural way.