Women Are Awesome

I am finally mustering up the motivation for another post, reason being I would like this one to be focused on a topic I love to talk about - WOMEN! Yeah, woohoo!

But seriously though, how awesome are women?

I've been wanting to write about women for awhile, and I figured what better way than to make a post on Mother's Day, a day to commend some women and their awesomeness (the day to celebrate all other  women's awesomeness is March 8, International Women's Day).

A few weeks ago I was helping clean out the large greenhouse on the farm to make room for the incoming tomatoes. Meanwhile, Nicole was maneuvering the tractor to make room in the compost area, and shouting over the motor to Blake (her boyfriend), Ginger (another intern), and me, instructions on what to do next to prepare the greenhouse. Moon, a wonderful eighth grader at Sunfield, came up to the tractor to ask Nicole a question about selling greens at the Friday Café (a food stand that the older kids put together to raise money), to which Nicole patiently shouted (I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but that's really the only way to describe the response) an answer. I started walking with Moon back to the tables stocked with food, both of us with an armful of lettuce heads, and Moon said, "Isn't farmer Nicole awesome? I mean, who else could drive a tractor like that and look so cool?"

And I agreed with her. Nicole is very awesome, and not just for driving the tractor. By single-handedly taking on a farm during its transition stage, and by being an independent and strong-willed female, she's a role model for girls like Moon (and like me, for that matter). 

I worked at a local hardware store as a cashier during my senior year of high school. It was mostly a boy's club, and sometimes I felt out of the loop working with a bunch of tool-savvy guys. I really regret not taking charge of my experience there and having them teach me how to rewire lamps, glaze windows, or fix vacuum cleaners. I just passively accepted my role as the counter girl and didn't do much to try to shift people's thinking about a girl working at a hardware store.

Nicole sees my lack of knowledge with power tools, and encouragingly hands me the wood and screws when we put together table tops for seed start trays or set up trellising in the greenhouse. She helps me erase all doubt about my ability to do something by handing me the tool and saying, "Do it!" It's so easy to put partial blame my dad for not making me learn how to fix a leaking sink, and blame on me for not asking him. But really, it's not his fault, nor is it mine, that we live in a culture that doesn't think twice about setting a girl in front of a stove or a child, and a boy in front of a squeaky door hinge or car with a flat tire. It's the awesome women like Nicole who empower other women, who weren't exposed to hardware growing up, to grab the power saw and slice the heck out of that two-by-four.

I'm noticing that in fact many women around here in Washington are the ones waking up, seeing a problem in our food system, and wanting to participate in the change by running organic and sustainable farms. I see their callused hands making enthusiastic gestures at the farmer's market, their sunburned faces smiling at customers, and I want to skip and jump up the yellow brick road to Monsanto's headquarters and yell, "You don't stand a chance against all of these amazing women! You're just an old profit-hungry man behind a curtain!"

Ahem...now that I've gotten my Wizard of Oz reference out of the way...

Women like Nicole, who's taking on a crazy farm headstrong; women like Sylvia, who was born asking dozens of questions and got in the face of any system that stood in her way, women like the ones who started Sunfield, who have hung on hell or high water to their students and their school for the past ten years; women like my own mother, who has recently fully embraced herself by openly falling in love with an other fantastic woman; all of these ladies are wonderful examples of what women can do, and the courage displayed through their hardships inspire younger women to do the same.

And to all the guys out there, I am by no means attacking you. There is a difference between commending women and ragging on men. There are many men in my life whom I love and appreciate just as much, and for other reasons (one of whom I was just talking to tonight about a video he posted on our school's Facebook page, called Violence & Silence, a TED Women Talk, given by a man - you should check it out). I just wanted to give my fellow ladies an applause for being, well, frankly, awesome.

Hello women of the world. Thank you for being a constant inspiration, for encouraging me to break down barriers, and for holding my hand every step of the way.



Here is a brief picture set of my past couple of weeks here, enjoy!

May Day Festivities - kids dancing around the smaller Maypole

 Farmer Nicole got in the middle of the tube of ribbons we all wove while walking around the Maypole (the top broke off, so we did a makeshift weaving from the ground)

 The three bright boys I ride to school with every morning. This was taken after they helped me sing "Happy Birthday" to my brother last week on the way to Sunfield.

 Sylvia and I went to the farmer's market this past weekend and then walked in a beautiful park and on the beach. I closed my eyes and listened to kids laugh (which is something everyone should try)

 Made this for Sylvia for Mother's Day (evidently) - made one for my mom as well

 Snuggle time

 Nicole's dogs, Sis and Jim, begging for my lunch in the yard

The way the evening sunset comes through dandelions in the field makes them appear to be floating balls of light - incredibly magical

Midge and the barnacles say "hi"