Farmers Guild is offering two free screenings of a new Wendell Berry film, Look & See, followed by a panel discussion with young local farmers at Rialto, Sebastopol, Mon. Apr. 9, 1 and 7pm. Come early to ensure seats. I’m stoked!

What a treat for those who want to hear common sense from a kind, wise farmer! Expect a great discussion of agrarian principles, poetry, the whole experience of farming in the hopes of living in a healthy and worthwhile world.

This from Farmers Guild:
…FREE WENDELL BERRY FILM and PANEL DISCUSSION exploring the agrarian philosophy of poet-farmer Wendell Berry and rural communities that must rethink their relationship to the land and the people on which they depend. Stick around for a discussion with three young locals working to forge their own livelihood from the land:
– Caiti Hachmyer, Red H Farm
– Joey Smith, Let’s Go Farm
– Ariel Greenwood, Freestone Ranch
– Evan Wiig, Farmers Guild & CAFF
Screenings at 1pm and 7pm
Rialto Cinemas: 6868 McKinley Ave, Sebastopol, CA

Our Oasis Farm just outside Petaluma will be well represented at the film with Abigail, Wayne, Rama and I attending. We much appreciate the straight talk and well-grounded thinking of Wendell Berry, a guy who feels the struggles farmers go through and adds a saving grace to every conversation.

It was with delight that I found not only Wendell Berry’s 2017 book, The Art of Loading Brush, but also Distant Neighbors, The Selected Letters of Wendell Berry and Gary Snyder. A deep and accesssible friendship lives between these two and their readers and students. Their 250 collected letters always include updates on farming and also delve into a broad understanding of the human condition, with focus on Native American writing (Lakota Souix, Russell Means), the writings of mystical Christians, (E.B. White, Teilhard de Chardin, Jesuit paleontologist who worked to understand evolution and faith), poets including Yeats and then, a broad understanding of many branches of Buddhism and into the rich ideas and practice of, among others, Satish Kumar, Indian activist and editor of Resurgence Magazine and Founder, Schmacher Collage international Center for ecological studies a former Jain monk, nuclear disarmament advocate, pacifist who “insists that reverence for nature should be at the heart of every political and social debate.”(Wikipedia).

Gary Snyder for me was the guy who spoke at the Human BeIn in Golden Gate Park, the guy who started the Watershed Festival in Berkeley, explaining what ecology means and so much more. The fact that his poem, Turtle Island, is constantly being rewritten gives poets of all stripes permission to keep growing in their writing and thinking.

Was particularly pleased to note comments about Satish Kumar, editor, Resurgence Magazine and Founder, Schumacher College in England, who I had the pleasure of speaking with during ceremonies for the UN 50th Anniversary in San Francisco. Marvelous human who I would love to cross paths again. And Schumacher College, it’s Small School and the whole institute are worth a review every few years to reflect on our own sense of direction.

Whatever Great Friend means to you, the friendship of Gary Snyder and Wendell Berry can offer some insight. Their letters cover complex and important ideals and information on how we live and what we live for. Very much looking forward to the film and continued writings of both Berry and Snyder.

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