The Age of Aquarius

The dawning of the actual Age of Aquarius happened early Valentine’s morning when Mark and I were driving up to Randolph Center for the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) Winter Conference, already a happy thing to be doing. I heard the big news on a dance floor on Saturday night--that astronomy had in fact duplicated the calculations of astrology that very day. Naturally we burst into song. “When the moon is in the seventh house….”

We were feeling good, the kind of good that I feel among thinking people with their feet on the ground and their hands in the dirt. Over a thousand people attended the conference. I felt a high to be in such a group, self-selected for character, vision, perseverance, and, thank God, a sense of humor. And a fair-minded sort of humility, too, that underlies the humor. Farming gives rise to so many mistakes and failed experiments that the most capable farmers have, in their time, run the gauntlet of bizarre outcomes enough to dim the brightest pride. But the call of the life on the soil persists. Many of these people have been at it for decades, and now they are masters leading the workshops. Many others, all ages, all hopeful, with the whole gamut of experience, packed the workshops, asking great questions and offering wisdom of their own. I observed an almost- required sense of egalitarianism: rural Vermont culture has matured beyond the strutting, long-haired country studs of the sixties and seems to have succeeded in internalizing the calls for social justice that have permeated the organic farming movement from the early days. And remember, it's all leavened by humor.

I guess what I liked best, beside the humor and friendliness, was the sense of goals being met, of possibilities envisioned years ago, pursued with discipline, and bearing fruit now like the trees they planted. So there we were, surrounded by some of my favorite forms of beauty: in the landscape all around, the handcrafted food for free, the multi-generational gathering, and the keen exchange of ideas. A conference can be a big party standing on the shoulders of substantial ideas-exchange, and that’s what this was. The old solar conferences were like this, too. Both groups have given me a sense of home, of being in the right place: a values-rich environment of capable people to inspire me.

Another reason for my satisfaction was the validation I felt for seeking out Vermont as a place to finish fulfilling my dreams. As someone in the NOFA newsletter said, summing up nicely my motivation for placing myself in the heart of that state:

“Vermont is now a leader in the localizing movement, which is the antithesis to corporate capitalism that subsumes entrepreneurial small business. Vermont is now a leader in educational programs that directly engage children in eating organic local food at lunch and connecting with local farmers. Vermont is a haven for people who seek to live closely with the land, in large part because there is now a firmly established culture and infrastructure that nurtures such individual efforts, both in markets and in personal lifestyle choices.

Today, in the midst of an awaited meltdown of the consumer-driven economic model, I am not anxious. I am living connected with people who understand the value of direct hands-on self-reliance while sustaining community interdependence. Instead of worrying, I am fascinated to participate in the evolution of humans, because the needed change has been long underway here and the future is hopeful.”

Sounds a little like the Age of Aquarius, doesn't it? Mark and I say, "We'll take it."

Love, Josie