EARTH & US — Hasta la vista, Barichara; back in the US
Capturing rainwater for the Food Forest
It was so satisfying when Joe got the gutter attached to the sheetmetal roof which Rafa had constructed over the cisterns in the Food Forest of the Bioparque. With dry weather coming, it will be great to have the cisterns filled, to extend the watering of the trees and other young plants. The gutter was a little longer than the finished roof, but Joe and I were mighty pleased when everything was in place and the first rain started to trickle into the system!
Visiting and watering the bare twigs of guanabana trees we had planted a few weeks ago, I was excited to see little leaves sprouting forth! Our care was yielding results — a most rewarding sight.
Advisory Council
Attending a meeting of the Advisory Council, I was still struggling to understand what was being said. (Listening to Spanish while taking notes in English is not a good idea!) Margarita, Felipe, Juan, Carmen, Natalia, Joep, Vicky, Camila and Vivian were there. Margarita spoke of visiting a group of farming families in Santa Helena, 18 of whom had biogas digesters! This was great news. Camila, who had been away, was excited at all the changes in the food forest. Felipe proposed locating the restaurant compost project on unused parish land, with the help of teenagers, and teaching them agroforestry. He shared the results of some interviews with 60 people about water, including the idea of a big “biofilter” for the river. He wants to introduce children to their inheritance, and the potential to recuperate water. Natalia would like to bring people in with half-day workshops, and Joe discussed hosting the Viracocha Permaculture School in October. The possibility of starting a foundation, to catch more funding, was raised.
Last days in Barichara
Joe proposed a hike to Las Albercas, the site where he still hopes to locate an Ecoversity, if the owners will sell the land. He promised it was about a “2–2 ½ hour hike” and that I’d be back in time for a lunch date I’d made with Shona. So Jessica, Joe, Elise and I set out. We all paused to give thanks at the sacred site where water had once pooled, and envisioned the river’s return. When we got down to Joep and Julia’s place, I realized how far away we actually were and got nervous about the time. I saw the steepness of the hill we were to climb in half an hour! As it was, I pushed myself pretty hard up that hill, ran most of the way down to the village from the Bioparque, and took a very quick cold shower in time to make the date. Later I joked with Joe that he was trying to kill me!
Our lunch was at the most wonderful restaurant, Elvia. Shona and I enjoyed sharing a vegetarian meal of two appetizers and a main dish, crafted with the most creative and delectable blends of flavors — and an elegant chocolate dessert — along with beverages. The tab was around $30 US. I felt rich!
I took the bus to San Gil to get my Covid test, staring out the window as if to memorize the landscape. While awaiting the results, I bought a nicely made pink cloth mask that fit perfectly from a street vendor, and enjoyed the attractive shops, but the dense traffic was jarring.
Connecting in Celebration
On my last evening in Barichara, I invited Joe, Jessica, Elise, Shona, Soriah, and Emerson (my Spanish teacher and a friend of everyone’s) to come over for dinner, joining Rafa, Margarita, Donny, Luca and me. I made a stovetop eggplant parmigiana and spaghetti with extra sauce. Shona brought a delicious quinoa-vegetable salad, Joe brought a good wine, there was bread and green salad and beer. Jessica made shortbread cookies in three flavors, that were to die for. Emerson came after dinner with a friend.
Most of all, I loved the circle we formed as the pasta was cooking. I presented Joe, Rafa and Margarita each with a card of gratitude and appreciation (the latter two were written in Spanish). I thanked Joe and Jessica for the gift of letting me be Elise’s honorary grandmother, for their friendship, for all I’d learned from Joe. I thanked Margarita for patiently translating for me, for so many times hosting group meals, introducing me to all her friends, and the deepening community. Rafa I thanked for his wonderful hugs, cheery and upbeat company, for constructing the roof to fill the rain cisterns in the Bioparque, for working hard to make the solar shower and renovate rooms, for introducing me to his mother, and for all the delicious maracuya juices. I slipped in a little cash to each, for their generosity to me. Joe led a round of gratitude, which touched me deeply. Each person spoke so freely and fully from the heart. Joe began, presenting me with a beautiful handmade paper booklet in which he’d written:
“Barichara → a place for deep healing and heartfelt rest → Service to indigenous lifeways of humans and all life in the tropical dry forest. Cathy, you warm our hearts with your gentle authenticity. Thank you for gracing us with your presence. We await your return.”
In these pages, Shona acknowledged how much we had shared in a short time, which has been an important moment of transition for her, “and you have been a really important puzzle piece in my own healing and liberation.”
Rafa wrote: “There is nothing more lovely than to know beings with such a beautiful heart as you.”
Margarita: “I give thanks to life for letting me meet such women as you, who believe that a better world is possible. My house will always be your house. Here we wait for you, you have family in Barichara!”
Jessica wrote of my openness and love of life inspiring her.
Having all these beautiful words in writing was truly precious to me, a visible reminder that there is a small community that loves and values me in Barichara.
Rafa taught me the Spanish words for “I’ll miss you.”
We put on music and danced, and I loved watching Joe and Jessica in their graceful abandon.
Reacclimating in the Appalachians
Early the next morning I slipped away, retracing my cab ride to Bucaramanga. The line for customs in Fort Lauderdale was long, but longer still for non-US citizens. The least fun part: my checked bag was missing and would not arrive until three days later. Nor would my phone work until I was finally able to get a new SIM card.
Days are filled with walks and visits with friends. Dear friend Sherry organized a 75th birthday party for me, gathering old friends at a restaurant, where I received lovely cards, many enclosing a check for the biogas digester fund (now up to $700)! I’ve enjoyed giving away little handmade artisan gifts I picked up in Barichara, supporting the local economy.
I’m enjoying the abundant cold, clean waters, the sunlight sparkling off streams and crystalline waterfalls of these blessed Appalachian mountains, the gold and red trees standing forth in startling color against the deep green of towering pines. Even took two short swims in some favorite swimming holes, before the cold weather began.
It’s been all too easy to stop speaking Spanish, drive my car everywhere, dine out, go to supermarkets, consume, consume. All too easy to fall into a gloomy view of the attacks on voter protection, the attempts to weaken Biden’s Climate Plan. Four of my friends went to Washington, DC to call for an end to fossil fuels, protesting alongside many indigenous people and youth.
I hope to return to Barichara in January.
Meanwhile, I’m enjoying Joe’s online class, “Prosocial groups for earth regeneration,” and am telling everyone about the Earth Regenerators. A link to Joe’s newsletter: https://earth-regenerators.mn.co/posts/er-newsletter-september-24th-2021
Here’s a poem I wrote in homage to my teacher and mentor:
Regeneration
I dream that I follow a young man
Out beyond the ancient narrow stone streets
Up into the hills
Where he restores the ruined church
Of native trees and plants
Of healthy soil
Of birds and caterpillars
And flows of water.
“I love to make Don Jesus laugh,” he says to me,
As the old campesino who cares for the trees chuckles aloud.
From a nightmarish depression of many years
Born of his clear and unshakable awareness
Of the empires’ coming collapse and humanity’s deep denial…
Feeling he did not fit into his culture.
He awoke to the songs of birds
With a vision of Earth Regeneration.
This land called to him with a cry of pain,
A plea for help.
He saw how a lost river might yet return,
How eroded red clay could spring back to life
With well-placed stones, mulch, and compost.
Feeding fruit to birds,
Hardy native plants sprouted from their droppings.
From the microbes to the cosmos…
From a gathering of neighbors to a global following…
From the humble man pulling invasive grass
To a bioregional restoration movement…
Joyously living the pathway, teaching and inspiring many more,
His eyes burning with quiet passion:
“Onward, fellow humans.”