I had been reading Shane Finan’s “A Different Kind of Grief: Learning to Love Our Networks in a Time of Disconnection” when my friend died–beyond unexpectedly.  I hadn’t been close to him in many years, but I still valued him as part of our homesteader community and proof of the larger concept that you can come back to the land, proof that this phrase was not a cliche, but a guiding light for lives well-lived.

John was part of another community that I also admired–nut tree explorers. He owned his own mail order business.  Here is a brief wander of his web site:

 

I would like to write more, but that will have to wait. For now, consider your networks and how delicate and in need they are.  Suffice to say, I feel the tendrils of community ripped and raw at this moment.  I find no solace anywhere for this pain even as  I am looking for it. I hope to find it as we all must hope for solace.  Instead of tropes and words and abstractions, I turn to music to explain. Here are two songs that express what I am feeling right now.