Oct 2 – Manzanita, OR
Manzanita, OR
By mid-afternoon, the sun had broken through the morning grey. I went with my host and her parents to a harvest festival on a piece of land owned by the Lower Nehalem Community Trust, an organization based around principles of sustainability, conservation, and community. Under blue skies, I ate free ice cream and desserts, and wandered through the organic garden.
Sustainability, conservation, and community seem to attract good people. A woman called Vivi stopped me to chat. She had recognized me from the article written in a local newspaper; I was wearing the same bright green t-shirt (I only have two). We chatted comfortably and lazily, the way you do on a sunny Sunday. A man with a pony tail was crushing apples and passing out cider. I thought he looked like Brad Pitt and told him as much; he told me I had nice eyes; we hugged, in that bro way. He had been going through heartbreak and told me that, at 39, he had realized that he didn’t know anything about love. His left arm was tattooed with a pot-pourri of images, mostly water-related: things like fish and waves. I drank cider mixed with beer and laughed often.
Under the large veranda, an older man with white hair, glasses, and a pot-belly held proudly above a large belt buckle was leading four couples in a square dance. He stopped and started the record player often as he explained the commands; one couple was comprised of two women, who used the stoppages to remind the others which of the two was dancing as the man. When the square dancing finished, a woman sang a cappella about her relationship with Gaia, the power that underlies all things. She wore a green hat and a tied-dye t-shirt. On the wall behind her were two murals depicting the area; one described blue ocean, white beach, and a rainbow above green hills. Her voice rang out under the high ceilings. A sparse crowd watched, sitting on hay bales.
A long piece of laminated paper hung in a corner, titled ”GREETINGS and THANKS to each other as people”:
TO THE EARTH
mother of all
greetings & thanks
to all the waters
WATERFALLS & RAIN
RIVERS & OCEAN
greetings & thanks
to all the
FISH LIFE
GREETINGS & THANKS
the grains and greens
BEANS & BERRIES
as one we send thanks
to FOOD PLANTS
MEDICINE HERBS
of the world
and their keepers
GREETINGS & THANKS
TO ALL ANIMALS
& their teachings
greetings
& thanks
THE TREES
for shelter & shade
fruit & beauty
greetings & thanks
TO ALL BIRDS
large and small
joyful greetings & thanks
and from the four directions
THE FOUR WINDS
thank you for purifying the air
we breath and
giving us strength
GREETINGS
THE THUNDERERS
our grandfathers
in the sky
we hear your voices
GREETINGS & THANKS
and now THE SUN
for the light of a new day
and all the fires of life
GREETINGS & THANKS
to our oldest grandmother
THE MOON
leader of women
all over the world
AND THE STARS
for their mystery
beauty & guidance
GREETINGS & THANKS
TO OUR TEACHERS
from all times
reminding us of how
to live in harmony
GREETINGS & THANKS
AND FOR ALL
the gifts of creation
for all the love
around us
GREETINGS & THANKS
and for that
which is forgotten
WE REMEMBER
WE END OUR WORDS
NOW OUR MINDS
Outside the window, children ran through the corn stalks in the sunshine.
