09/08/2006: "Welcome, and an introduction"
I'll keep this brief, as this is our first posting. Bringing up this web log is a little bit like The Farm itself - a work in progress, lots of potential, who knows where it will all lead. Join me for a short explanation of how we arrived at the name Living Green Farm. As the twig is bent, so grows the branch; one has to take care in naming things.
It took us a long time to come up with a name for The Farm. Nate and Channa and I bandied names about during my brief visits, and we emailed each other lists. I had been holding out for something obscure like Eudamonia Farm ("possessing happiness and well-being"), while Nate was holding out for Hard Turn Farm (too much like Cold Comfort Farm, for my taste!). In the end, we were relaxing together in the hot tub (before we sold it for more farm stuff) one night about two weeks ago when we started reviewing names from our email lists. One of the items on my list was {something from the Sacred Harp}, which meant I intended to pore over the Sacred Harp hymnal and look over the titles and texts for some inspiration. But I never got around to it; in attempting to explain Sacred Harp, I said, "Here, let me sing a little fragment:"
"On Jordan's stormy banks I stand, and cast a wishful eye,
To Canaan's fair and happy land, where my possessions lie,
Oh, the transporting rapturous scene that rises to my sight,
Sweet fields arrayed in living green, and rivers of delight."
And just like that, we seized upon Living Green, for that is the common vision we have of The Farm: sweet fields arrayed in living green, converting the sun's energy into usable food. The double meaning of living green, i.e. striving for sustainable living, is also a goal, and thus fits in, too. Finally, our search for a name was complete.