So, our Meigs County experience has come to a temporary end. It was eventful, to say the least; full of sweaty physical labor, blistering sunburns, knee-high manure, colorful locals, hearty laughs, shared knowledge and skills, and relaxing yet mentally stimulating conversations.
We began the experience with Elisa Young on her 144-acre land, as you know, where we first got a feel for the honest and hard work of life on a farm.  She welcomed us with her good friend and neighbor, Guy Rose (mentioned in Chris’s blog), on Friday night after a long day of driving and dealing with muffler problems.  The next day began a week of gardening, building, painting, and sweating.  The boys finished up constructing the roof to a chicken coop that hadn’t been finished for years, bringing major relief to Elisa, Guy (who started the project a year and a half ago), and most importantly, the chickens, who can now bask in the sun instead of being all cooped up inside.  The completed coop was quite a home, but still needed something more: a unique sign to make it a fortress!  So I added my own little touch, with some inspiration from the chickens, and painted a sign to hang above the entrance.

The rest of the time was spent digging, gardening, shoveling and spreading manure (I had to say it, Elisa), tilling up fields, and helping around the farm.  But Elisa isn’t the only person in Meigs that has an infinitely long to-do list, so we migrated down the road to help around Guy’s farm—a place that’s as close to Alice’s Wonderland that we’ve seen thus far.  There are dozens of rusting trucks and disassembled vehicles overgrown with weeds and brush, dropped amongst fields of wandering cattle over rolling hills.  As we walked throughout the fields, each car, truck and fence post reminded him of another thing he needs to do.  If only he had ten more hours in the day, he could—and would—accomplish it all, however, his sleep is already limited to 2-4 hours a night.  He is the most mentally and physically capable 73-year old I’ve ever met, hands down, and I have no doubt in my mind that it’s from his genuine and hard-working life.  He tells stories like a true Appalachian: detailed with family or local names and gossip, not missing a beat and ending with a good laugh.  He can fix or build anything, maneuver a semi like it’s a car, work all day in the sun with but a wink of sleep, all the while maintaining his contagious grin. He’s incredibly inspiring for me, so much so, that I grabbed some clay from

his ground and sculpted a little caricature of him, along with a trucker hat made from a “wet-wipe” wrapper and chicken wire glasses.
We helped him out as much as we could, however, we really spent more time talking and listening to his stories.  Hours I will never forget.
After our stay on Guy’s farm, Elisa took us to her friend, Cindy, on her land about a half hour away.  She has a wonderful home, as well as a pond-side “shed” that’s fully furnished with beds, a futon, and a balcony view of her hillside.  There are gardens all over (some more maintained than others) with dozens of herbs planted all around.  Cindy is an herbalist. She put us to work, weeding and weed whacking huge fields and gardens, but rewarded us in the best way ever– with food to eat.  There was a lot of things around the place that were pretty foreign to me, like some of her “tincture” ingredients/ herbs, Native American tobacco prayers, and—the sweetest thing—Elder Flower Fritters. All you do is snip a fully opened one, dip it in batter, fry it up, and sprinkle powdered sugar on them.  So fun!

The way of life in Meigs is so completely different from how I was raised, and yet they live only hours away from my home.  Many of them don’t have running water or indoor plumbing; cell phones or Internet.  Where I grew up, it was normal to see houses with 3-4 bathrooms, Wireless Internet, dozens of rooms, with loads of decorative, purposeless items.  Many people in this type of rural area see all of those superfluous things as completely unnecessary, space-consuming, and a waste of—what should be—hard-earned money.  They live with essential items only and on food they have grown.
So many of us possess so many things we absolutely don’t need, but think we do.  I left behind drawers and closets full of clothing, shoes, coats, and accessories.  I haven’t thought of any of the material items I’ve left behind until writing this post, which proves my unnecessary possession of them in the first place.

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