GOODBYE JOE...HE'S GOTTA GO...ME OH MY OH....

In a world defined by all sorts of conflict, problems, and misunderstandings, The Farm provides a refuge of laughter, love, fun, and grace-filled solitude.  It is indeed our sanctuary....our place of peace....a place where doors are always open....a place where people can come to neutralize their worries and fears... relax...find themselves...surround themselves by the gifts of the Earth....know that all's well....that there's no judgement here...a place where music resounds and peace embraces....

Few live the essence of The Farm more than Joe.  When he came back to Marietta two years ago with his beloved Rufus (RIP), his plan was to settle in Marietta, maybe even build a place in the back field and live here forever, helping me and hanging out with his dad, John. Since then, he and I have grown deeper and deeper in friendship and love....tending to our garden, walking Paco and Mac, sharing dinner together on the back porch, tackling farm chores, shoveling snow, laughing openheartedly at things that spark our similar sense of humor, conversing about life.  We've had moments of  adjustments, intense tears, grumpiness, and icing our knees.....Those times have been very few, for over and over, we've commented that being here together at The Farm is like being on v-cation (as Eliza used to say), and almost every day, we realized how blessed we are to be living together.....watching the hummingbirds and barn swallows, cooking the best meals to be had on Earth, sipping a little wine, and watching the sun set.

There have been struggles along the way, particularly for Joe as a teacher and an artist. He's given 500% to a 3/4 position at Marietta College, a position without benefits and without a budget that supports growth of his program...Having inherited a ceramics studio that required 5 dumpster loads of trash to clean, Joe has spent hours upon hours giving of himself to his students....to his program....to the art department at large. His own projects and plans have been shelved in the best interest of others...The prospect for his position to mature into a full-time, tenured  job has increasingly looked more and more bleak.  Financially and professionally, he had to start looking elsewhere.....The conversations with the Universe began.....

and an opportunity has presented itself...Joe will be leaving The Farm in a month to move to the Portland area to take a position as ceramics instructor at Mt. Hood Community College.  The salary's great; the benefits are as good; he can get tenure in 4 years and apply for a sabbatical after 6.  It's a dream come true and yet another validation on the importance of manifesting in one's life. 

Oregon's a familiar place for José, and he returns to many friends and colleagues who love and appreciate him and his work.  It's a land of potters and of like-minded folks....He'll be in or around Portland, a city that brings bright sparks to his eyes when he talks about the hip little neighborhoods and coffee shops. And, he'll be able to do things that financially would never have been possible had he stayed at Marietta College.....This is an opportunity that he absolutely can't pass by.

The Farm will certainly be at a loss without Joe and Paco.....I can't begin to imagine not having them here....I can, however, rejoice and celebrate this amazing opportunity that's his to live...And that's where I'm hanging at the moment.....Good luck and Godspeed, Joe, as you venture west.....

Stay tuned.......