Jacob's Cove Blog

I grew up in a house at the end of a cul-de-sac.  Almost every house had a child of some age.  We all went to school during the day but in the afternoon we would congregate in the middle of the street to play kick ball, go catch dragon flies in the old church yard or go into a basement to play a game.  When it was time for dinner my mom would come outside and ring a cow bell.  It would echo through the neighborhood, into basements and even to the ditch in the church yard to call us home.  That childhood neighborhood was the closest thing I’ve ever experienced to a community.

We knew all about each other.  We knew how to get under each other’s skin, we knew more about each others parents lives than our parents did, and we knew who was likely to trade a loaf of homemade bread for a Twinkie.  It felt real and it felt safe.

The photo above is of me (left) and Annie.  Annie showed up a couple weeks ago out of the blue.  She approached Dale, who was working on the greenhouse, and asked how she could help.  She had recently read the book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” by Barbara Kingsolver and wanted to find real food.  That’s what led her to us.  Since that time she has gone door to door telling her friends about our farm.  You might see a flier about us in a few stores about town; those were put there by Annie.  She and her husband were also here on Saturday to help with the barn raising.  Her tireless energy and desire to create something better in this valley has inspired me and reminded me how important this is.

After the article in the Daily Herald ran yesterday the phone began to ring, which was expected.  Then the door bell rang, which was unexpected.  I was still in my bathrobe and luckily my husband was available to answer the door.  A man had read the paper and wanted to come see the place.  He handed Dale a check for his CSA share and told him to be sure and call when he needed some volunteer help.  We certainly will.

When I say that I want to build the community I mean that I want to know people in a real way. To do that I have to let people into my life.  That’s a little scary but I believe that ultimately it will make for a richer life.  I want my neighbors and members of the Jacob’s Cove community to feel welcome in my home. I want to tell a neighbor to call me when they need volunteer help and have them know that I’m sincere.

I want Jacob’s Cove to be a place where the kids can play kickball, the adults can share what’s important to them and we can all be courageous enough to let other people into our lives.  That’s where community is built.