The winds of change are blowing full force this week, as all of my planned and unplanned changes begin to take motion. My apartment is filled with boxes, mostly crammed full of books (I heart books, big time.) that are all ready to make the move to Johns Island. I have spent the last few weeks purging stuff out of my life that has become dead weight… VHS tapes, clothes, gifts I never wanted, and things that could be better used by someone else. Once again, I find myself going back to a communal setting, living on an extreme budget, and dedicating my time to working outdoors building. My last service year was spent building homes and now I will spend my time building up farms and the community surrounding them. People keep asking me if I am excited and I keep telling them, not quite yet. The whole process is too surreal for me to truly grasp the changes coming my way. There are still so many changes taking place that it is hard to even forecast what life will be like a week from now.

Since my green building job did not accept my proposal to become permanent contractor, I will have to seek out other employment to fill the gaps between the specialty projects I plan to continue doing for them. Although I am disappointed in their decision to not keep me on staff, I think it will probably be the best for everyone, as it will give the affiliate the push it needs to learn to live without having access to me daily while also allowing me to get paid fairly based on my final products and not office hours.

My case working job is voluntarily coming to an end but this was inevitable because the nature of the position and the bureaucracy that surrounded it was slowly wearing me down. I will however miss the interesting and candid conversations with my co-workers about parenting, relationships, and race. Not to mention how nice it felt to be constantly thanked for my work and complimented on my efforts… if only it could have been an environmental agency!

Looking ahead to the next few days, I will be leaving my case working (sigh of relief), ending a four year process of building a green building program (sigh of disappointment/relief), moving to John’s Island, and becoming a farmer. Change, change, change… I really do love change in its entirely intense, sometimes uncomfortable, but always life sculpting nature. It will be glorious to finally embrace my love of growing things and be able to spend my days doing nothing but learning every aspect of the food production world! Just imagine me breaking out of my office cubicle with pitchfork in hand, leaving behind a trail of paperwork and “while you were out” messages, and diving into a pile of compost while screaming out my xena call in glee.

Last week brought adventure, change, celebration, and challenge into my world. Monday was… well… Monday. Tuesday was my first interview with Lowcountry Local First for the Farm Incubator Program…very exciting. We had a lunch meeting at Five Loaves (yum) where we discussed all kinds of things from the position to my lifestyle. What was the biggest concern regarding my qualifications? My ability to get a car. How I have managed to live in Charleston and commute to Johns Island this long is beyond me, so I was not surprised when it came up. So, yes, I will be getting a vehicle so that I can participate in the program. I know, I know. I think about half of you are relieved and the other disappointed but I am sure that you all understand. So at the end of the meeting we agreed that I would have a second on site interview with one of the farmers to ensure it was a good fit. Which brings me to Wednesday. The day started off with a little oyster harvesting. Yes, oyster harvesting. Our Habitat Young Professionals group was having its first fundraiser, so we decided to go out on our own and get some “free” food. It was unbelievably cold, fun, and for some, tasty as well. I personally do not eat oysters because I was told to not eat boogers at the age of 3, but clearly that does not apply in this case. Oh yeah, I am allergic, too. So anyways, we harvested enough to fill two large garbage cans full and even found ourselves a quahog clam. After cleaning the gear, oysters, and boats we headed over to Rosebank farms where I met with Sidi, the farmer for Rosebank Farms. In true farm style, he pulled up in a tractor. We toured the stand, met some of the critters (including a duck that thinks its a rabbit), and then saw all of the fields. As I stared across the rows and rows of winter vegetables and listened to him name off the varieties, the whole idea of working on a farm began to sink in. Working the soil, protecting the plants, harvesting the yield, tending the animals, and making the sale. This is exactly what I want to be doing. So when he dropped me off at the front and asked me when I was going to start, my heart sang! (Specifically, Lets Go Crazy by Prince). Thursday I gave my notice to my case working job (it was a stretch anyway but at least I got them to recycle!) and went out that night to celebrate at the aforementioned oyster roast. Friday, I spent most of my day recovering from Thursday and preparing for Saturday, which was the kick-off day for the Bogarden my friends and I have started. The rest of the weekend was spend playing with the dogs, running errands, and planting more seeds.

So what does this mean for me? Well… in the next month I have to tie up loose ends at my case working job, move out of my apartment and onto Johns Island, buy a car, and convince my OTHER current employer to transition my part-time Green Building position into a contract basis one. Change is on the way.