Ever Dream of Giving IT ALL UP to Shovel Manure?

I grew up as an anomoly in my suburban landscape. While others braided their barbie's hair and attended Sunday School, I broke into abandoned buildings and escaped out my window in the middle of the night to skulk around under brushes. And my Ken, the barbie doll, was a cowboy in chaps. The freedom gave me a rush. Even at seven years old. To say that I spend much of my days trying to attain that same armour of defiance and possibility is an understated reality. It's all I do. It's a huge part of why I got a dog. And possibly the link to why at such a young age I latched onto words, both written and read. If you can't physically dwell in isolated places then you might as well plant your mind there instead.

It's been 3 1/2 years since I have been working in my office job. The longest stretch of paid work I have ever done. I am shocked at how stabilizing and comforting a 9-5 job is to so many people. Not because there is anything terrible about it but because it completely fucks with natural rhythm.

And what better way to get back onto a cycle dictated by lunar pulls and seasonal manifestations than work on a farm? I subscribed to The Caretaker Gazette a few months ago. While cleaning out one of my many boxes full of many emails and letters and scribbling from many years I found a print off of the caretaker gazette that I had tucked away in 1999. It still exists. And it's in an exciting web accessible format now so I get updates almost daily of the most ridiculously alluring yet far fetched sketches of life I have ever read. If I could do one of these for a year stint for a decade the books I could write...

An example from today's updates, excerpted from The Caretaker's Gazette. I love how cleanliness is one of 4 desirable traits to muck and butcher.

SMALL GOAT DAIRY FARM in Northern California needs a long-term worker apprentice. Rent trade for 3 1/2 days work. Work includes milking twice a day, managing a dairy herd, vet stuff, harvesting and butchering, fencing, mucking, barn maintenance, walking goats, making cheese butter, yogurt, washing equipment, etc. Seasonal wage work available or you can have a part time job on the side. Experience great. Not necessary. Person needs to be a strong, early riser, attention to detail and cleanliness MANDATORY. No drunks or druggies. This is a HUGE responsibility. Also, fun and a good deal. Start this summer.