5/9 Tastes Retrieved

The water strider is an exceedingly fragile organism that could die at any time, blown away by the wind, drowned by the water, or swallowed by birds or even a leaping fish. But when it flies close to the surface of the water, it is graceful and touching, not unlike a wild crane. It was so quiet and still, even in scorching-hot summer when a hot wind blew over my river, sending the sweat running down my back, inevitably making my young heart restless. The water strider danced on the water’s surface and my mind sank into stillness as if I had returned to a world of silence where I pulsated, thought, searched, and sought. Now I understand the mind enters a still and silent world like Caesar in his camp tent, like Helen crossing a destroyed avenue, like Michelangelo in the vaulted dome of the chapel, the heart still beats actively, like a water strider flying above rapids. (p.45)

I hope to give my children a place, when they feel low and get hurt, when they need someone to care for them, a place that recognize them, that they really belong. Finally, I want to give everyone an encouragement: you can be a farmer, as long as you are willing to be one.