Springtime inspiration was galvanized for me today by
Two Gander Farm's baby turnips. They are transitioning their farm to a
Brandywine Conservancy property in Downingtown that preserves 250 acres very close to town. But from that old Miller farm, the vista is nothing but hills of fields and trees and the old homestead - the energy and love that lived there so long ago is still vibrating. People have a lot of love in their hearts to work so hard to preserve something so important.
Inspiration and the inspired are all around us, we just have to notice. For several months now, MC Richards has been speaking into my ear, in whispers and in shouts, from the past and from the future. In one of her last writings, in Studio Potter, 1997, "Form out of Nothingness," she writes:
What are human beings for? ...Always divine, she [the
earth], through human hands connected with blood warmth and soul care, bears
another quality into the cosmos..When we touch life, we shape it....In the art of pottery, our clay
"body" is entered by the fire, and changed. This "body"
will never return to clay, but it may be useful now as implement (means) and as
a ceremony and celebration (end). [The transformation of clay is a means to an
end] reminding us continually of our role in creating life, creating
environment, creating love, creating freedom, creating justice. We can
change from consumers to celebrants, passing out the bread and wine to all who
come to the table. We can begin to weaken the habits of compulsive
consuming and to strengthen the habits of creating and recreating, of
imagining, of doing..The power to heal and be healed is built into the body,
into our clay body.
Interiority is coming down to earth,
weightlessness is penetrating gravity,
warmth is overtaking indifference.
Have you ever seen baby turnips? Deirdre said to slice them up and fry them in butter, then add the tops. We also included some ramps of theirs. And noodles, parmigiane and pine nuts - so sweet, so quick and easy to prepare.
 |
| Baby turnips and ramps from Two Gander Farm, Bowl by Shawn Spangler |
 |
| Sustainably harvested ramps from Meredith at Happy Cat Farm, Plate by Ron Myers |
