Fall West Virginia Festivals

I try to make it a regular habit to visit various fall festivals that happen in this part of the state of West Virginia.  Last weekend was the Buckwheat Festival, and this coming weekend is the Forest Festival.  Although, I had hoped to attend the Buckwheat Festival, instead, Jamie and I visited a couple of old friends in Preston County along with some other friends.

Although we didn't attend the festival, in many ways we participated in what makes these festivals so special.  We were able to connect and catch up with friends we haven't seen in a long time.  The couple we visited opened their home to us after they had spent the entire day parking cars for the Buckwheat Festival.

Beyond connecting with old friends, there are some other aspects of events like this that make them a priority for me.  Of course, there's always the really unhealthy food that is readily available in this carnival atmosphere, but that's not exactly it.  (I do enjoy some fresh pork rinds from local farmers at the Buckwheat festival though)  It's the coming together of people from all over the region to celebrate some of the ties that keep us connected together.

Even though you would never guess it in the supermarkets or the suburbs, our roots in the United States are those of an agrarian nature.  The Buckwheat Festival, celebrates the end of the harvest, serves as a fundraiser for local organizations, and allows people from all walks of life to sit down and enjoy a meal together.  The meal?  All you can eat buckwheat cakes with two sausage patties and a cup of milk.  (My personal record is 13).  The cakes are hearty as is the atmosphere at the Kingwood Fire Hall. A person can see people from all over the region and from every walk of life enjoying a meal together, and there's really something beautiful about that.

If you are from this region, I hope you are able to observe and enjoy the foretaste of shalom that I am talking about at the Buckwheat or Forest Festivals.  If you are not, I strongly suggest you find out what your community does to celebrate the end of the harvest and our agrarian roots.  Go there, and tell folks about it.  Also, if you make it a point to attend one of these festivals, why do you go, and what is your favorite part of the festival?

And wherever you might find yourself, I hope you will take the time to enjoy the reunion, homecoming, and reconnection with friends and family that events like these offer.

Review: Leavings by Wendell Berry

I’ve always been a little slow to use gift cards.  I feel like they are innately a special gift, and so the use of such a gift should also be a special occasion.  Jamie’s mom and dad gave me a Barnes & Noble gift card for Christmas, and it took me until May to make a purchase with it.  Regardless of the reason, I finally did make a purchase, and I’m incredibly glad I did.

I picked up the latest book of poetry from Wendell Berry.  It’s called Leavings.  It’s a mixture of musings from day to day life, and latest of Berry’s Sabbath poems—which are of course a series of Sunday reflections afforded to the writer on his day of rest.

Wendell Berry himself is an agrarian or ecological writer, and his writings center on the land of his sojourn in rural Kentucky.  He has worked his farm for most of his life, and understands a little better than most in the West our close tie to the good earth.

As I picked up Berry’s book of poetry in the Morgantown Barnes & Noble, I felt like I was reading letters and reflections from an old friend, someone who has seen all of the ill of our myriad technological advances and increased consumption habits and tried to resist in the simple yet profound protest of farming a small plot of land and subsisting off those offerings.

He writes about the greed of our age and how it is costing us our lives.  He writes of tragedies that come from a careless lifestyle of hurry and haste.  He writes and reminds me of my own need for simplicity as well as my own complicity in using and abusing the land and our resources.

Last week, I picked up some of my own old poetry and began to read it out loud.  Jamie listened and was unaware that it was mine.  She thought it was Wendell Berry’s writing.  It’s one of the greatest compliments I’ve ever received.

I don’t know Wendell Berry at all, but I’m tempted to write him a letter.  I’m tempted because I want to thank him for being a voice crying out against our own diversity of gluttony, and reminding us that we do have a choice.  There’s always a choice . . .

In light of the recent oil spill that is consuming our oceans and covering our wildlife with a reddish brown indictment against our greed, I highly recommend that more people give Berry’s latest installment a read.

If you do give it a try, please let me know what you think.  And also, do you think I should try to write him?

Regardless whether you read his or any other book of poetry or prose, I hope that you can make a small step of courage to use less today.  The irony is that you might feel somewhat useless yourself if you choose to do so—that’s why it takes courage.

Ain't That America

Ain't That America, originally uploaded by chanchanchepon.

During my hike through Cathedral State Park with Morgan and Karen, we discovered this field and farm. Once again, I was captivated. It looked like something out of Little House on the Prairie, or some such thing, and just spoke to me about a different way of living. There aren't any Superstores near this house, and no sign of major corporations. Just fields and forests to be seen all around. Caring for a piece of land like this takes a lot of time and energy. I think most of us would be crushed under the weight of the responsibility.

At the same time, looking at this pastoral scene points me to a way of living that stands much less complicated in comparison to the rat race kind of life most of us get caught up in. This is a different side of america than we read in neon and on billboards, and it is a refreshing perspective.

Couldn't we all use a bit of simplicity in our lives?