The Hayden's, what to say about the Hayden's (nothing censored because I know they will read this ;)). Such wonderfully good people. Ron is a local, having grown up on his families farm that
has been theirs since the 1860's. He wanted to return to his family farm to build a house in the woods and start to try have a go at it. Having spent most of his career in cabinetry (for 27 years)
it wasn't difficult for him to just sort of build a cabin, from the trees that he fell right there on the spot. He is an incredibly hard worker, having double dug about an acre of hard
pan clay and amended it with innumerable
grain truck loads of horse manure. Cathy is another hard worker, she has a full time job at the health department but also manages to do most of the cooking, harvesting, preserving and indoor tasks.
 Shannon, their daughter, is a virtuoso (www.shannonleehayden.com) Cellist who has recently returned from Yale after getting her masters (without even needing
to get her undergrad first mind you). She makes absolutely incredible music, using her cello, a guitar and a loop machine amongst other things (pencils, phonebooks whatever).
Together they live on the edge of the abyss, soy beans were being harvested on one of the days that we were there. But there spot is just stunning, on either side of the woods he has used
government programs to restablish the prairies, about ten to fifteen acres it appears. Every three years he burns them to ensure the disturbance neccesary for prairie maturaity and health,
 but they are a haven for all sorts of wildlife and absolutely stunning to walk
through in the evening and morning. The garden itself winds around the edge of the prairies in a long strip which acts as a fire break for the burning in the early Spring. Somehow he has managed
to turn this dead dirt into a living thriving soil (must have been all that double digging). They also live off the grid with no running water to speak of (which has been particularly
useful since the drought this summer) and using solar, wind and a backup generator for power.

The soil is not the only thing that is thriving in this holding, these people are just God's gft to hospitality. They showed us everything, treated us to everything and let us stay in their tent in
pine woods. To see them work together too is just a blessing, you can tell they are so happy to have Shannon back filling their world with beautiful music and she is happy to be back
amongst the simpler kind of life. The first night we ate heartily and watch an old silent movie  (Phantom of the Opera), or at least half of it, on a reel to reel projected onto a sheet between two
pine trees. The next day, Luke and Shannon got to playing together (which I know he really appreciated), and we had a lovely music sharing session over chili. The last day I helped Cathy process
tomatoes and Luke helped build a roof. They bid us adieu over Moonshine hamburgers just down the road. Not a place that we will be forgetting anytime soon.


For more photos go to: Facebook and Photos on KeSera