Journeys have a beginning
Basically, we only really have one journey, the journey of life. Of course along the path there are many twists and turns, ups and downs. Life, learning and doing is not a linear, straight-as-an-arrow, process.
For me this blog represents a mini-journey, an exploration of thoughts, ideas and actions. Others began aspects of this journey a long time ago. I am just now hopping on for the ride and together, if you join with me, we will see where it leads.
There are three subjects I am deeply interested in. Although they may not seem to be related, I believe there are direct links among all three. So, hold on to your hats if you choose to join me in this exploratory journey and lets begin.
Journeys have all sorts of beginnings and often the start takes form with a thought or idea coming to mind. For years now I have considered the notion of remoteness as a consequential and ubiquitous degrading characteristic of our contemporary society. For an even longer period of time I have been drawn to the subject of place and urban organization and shape. More recently I have been engaged with small scale agriculture, working with and on the land. My journey will weave in and out of these three broad subjects and will inevitably draw related interests and issues into the mix. For the remainder of this installment I will briefly introduce the three subjects.
Remoteness arises, I suggest, when and where there is a buffer preventing access to knowledge and understanding. Buffers take many forms and along this journey I will explore them. Knowledge and understanding has always been a critical component of everything we do. As buffers are established, between us and what we should know and understand, the results of our actions become more uncertain, less predictable and more obscure. “So what! What is he on about?” I hear you say. Well, as every action has consequence we require prior knowledge and understanding to ensure the consequences are good and intended. Something to ponder till next time.
Speaking of consequence, our urban areas from small to large are the result of a myriad of prior decisions and actions. In this subject I am interested in the quality or lack of quality of our urban places and arrangements, how we got to where we are, and what we can do to make improvements. In a world where more people live in urban locations than in rural ones, it is an issue about which we should have some understanding.
I live on a farm outside Stirling in the beautiful Rawdon Creek Valley. Agriculture is always changing, but today the issues facing farmers, including farm viability, has meant a search for alternative agricultural enterprise by farmers and others and is underway in earnest. I am no different and at Springhill Farm the notion of value added agriculture will be employed as so many others have done before us. This will be achieved by, among other things, launching an “estate” micro-brewery. I intend to share with you the pitfalls encountered and the achievements gained in creating this value added agriculture enterprise.
Until next time,
I am Steve Tubb.
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May 13, 2024
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