Meet Me At The Fair

"The great difficulty in education is to get experience out of ideas."
- George Santayana, early 20th-century philosopher and writer

Well, folks, I just got back from a lovely trip, not along the Milky Way, but along the interstate.  For three whole days I gorged myself on all things sustainable living, do-it-yourself, homestead style, healthful habits, and renewable energy.  At the moment I'm literally stuffed to the gills with information.  Where did I run off to?  The Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania.


I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm a bit of a conference snob.  In my 29 years I've attended so many conferences I've lost count -- student government and school retreats, business marketing training, charities & church events, independent musician stuff, sales tips, real estate education, yada yada yada. Not to imply that each event wasn't beneficial at the time but it's been a while since I signed up for a conference...intentionally! So, what changed my mind? Not too surprisingly, my mother.  Generous woman that she is, she offered to take me to this mecca of back-to-the-landers' events as a belated birthday gift.  Mother Earth News Magazine has been a welcome guest in my mailbox for the past two years. I've also gotten my grubby paws on every back issue I can find in my extended family's menagerie of publications. Geared to homesteaders, farmers, and sustainable living enthusiasts, each issue (since its 1970 inception) is full of know-how, natural wisdom, cutting edge developments, and intriguing conquests of kindred spirits and experts in the field.  After her offer I weighed the pros and cons, determined to go "prepared", did what I had to to clear the schedule, packed a bag of my "earthiest"-looking duds, stocked the fridge for my husband staying home, and piled into her Honda civic for the 8+ hour haul last Thursday.

I'll admit that I was a bit intimidated at first. I felt as though I'd never be able to choose only one topic out of fifteen fantastic options offered per hour-long session. I was equally concerned at the prospect of missing everything outside of my hourly choice.  Though I could occasionally rely on my mom's choice being one of my second options -- and thus pilfer from her notes -- I decided that the best course of action would be to stick with session topics that apply to me now or in the immediate future.  Toward that end I skipped any sessions, however interesting, on homeschooling, bio-diesel, and the like in order to focus on solar electricity/off-grid living, homestead/house design, freelance writing, and fermented foods.  I also crossed off any topics for which I had resources within local reach i.e. natural soap-making, bee-keeping, growing in high tunnels, etc. Another helpful decision was to formulate beforehand any specific questions I needed answered from each session.  If the speaker answered them during the talk I made a star in my notes and if not I made a point to ask afterward.  It would do me no good to bring home notes on what they did if I require an additional bit of information for proper translation to my situation.  The last trick in my book was to keep a separate sheet of realistic bullet points that I intended to implement upon my return. These ended up being goals like: Enroll in a Red Cross First Aid/CPR class, Increase my water intake to at least a half-gallon per day, Familiarize myself with KY state rebates and regulations for solar arrays, Incorporate cod liver oil into my diet, and Write on a weekly basis. (I'm starting, I'm starting!) These tactics kept me at ease throughout the long days at the fair. They also gave me the freedom to browse the massive bookstore for a list of coveted titles and wander through the myriad of vendor booths to touch, sniff, taste, and see everything else that was offered. I'd hate to leave out that on the coldest and dampest of September Saturdays I ate a loaded, locally-grown baked potato that hit the spot like you wouldn't believe!

I'm still digesting the entire affair (...the Fair, not the potato), but my initial response is that the Mother Earth News Fair was just what I needed at this moment in my homestead education. Shannon Hayes, one of my favorite authors, adeptly notes in her book Radical Homemakers that the vast majority of homestead folks -- rural, suburban, or urban -- are self-taught a.k.a autodidactic.  It's not to say that the DIY-type person doesn't need a template or teacher.  Obviously, there's a reason that the saying goes, "let's not reinvent the wheel".  It does mean, however, that people with a self-reliant streak are interested and willing to gather and organize needed information in order to take action, gain experience, and accomplish a goal (i.e. raise chickens for meat, make soap, increase soil fertility). One problem that I've experienced with conferences is that they often give the sense that one MUST need more information before taking action. They're paralyzing or at a minimum pacifying to the point of paralysis.  It's easy to get a "new info fix" only to slip back into business as usual because it's familiar.  Another conferencitis symptom is the concept that being armed with a bit of information warrants the response, "Oh, I know about that already." The truth of it is that you're not likely to know much if you haven't done it, repeated it successfully, and kept up on appropriate advancements in the field.  I'll admit that both of these deficiencies are much more an issue of perspective by the attendee (ahem...my own on occasion) than a fault of the conference.  Even if a conference is a part of the learning process I've come to find that reading, watching/asking, and good ol' doing are the three best teachers when utilized in concert with one another. Too much of one without the others is going to be a problem.  After those are in place the next most important factors in any proactive homestead (or successful business) are consistent analysis, willingness to change, and a healthy set of problem solving skills.

I'm glad to have curbed my skepticism at attending yet another conference in favor of a practical approach and an open mind. Honestly, I think I got everything out of it that I could (with the unexpected and hesitantly accepted bonus of sleeping with my mom's Yorkie puppy, Lucy, for four whole nights.)  I was able to machine gun fire a bunch of ideas and questions off in the presence of more-experienced others with the satisfying result of receiving helpful insight, feedback, and resources. I also thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to sit like a sponge and absorb information, inspiration, and clarification from every direction.  An unexpected boon was the occasion to take a step back and appreciate all that our homestead farm is doing and has accomplished -- we've got a LOT under our belts to be proud of!

Now that I'm back on the farm I have some new trails to blaze, wrinkles to iron out, renewed vigor to work with, and realistic actions to take. I'm certain that as the ideas and insight from this past weekend marinate they'll trickle into my day-to-day and end up in black and white for anyone interested to read.  Before I sign off and head out to move pigs to pasture, I'll leave you with a bit of trivia.  For anyone wondering, my post title is actually a lyric from the 1944 hit song "Meet Me In St. Louis" from the movie of the same name referencing the World's Fair of 1904. I figure that some readers may not know that tidbit because not everyone likes musicals as much as I do. Unfortunately this was a shock that I initially endured while dating my husband-to-be. I watched this classic film starring Judy Garland a bunch of times as a youngster and all I can say is that any hit song that rhymes "hoochie coochie" and "tootsie wootsie" deserves to be quoted half a century later! Of course you may never meet me at the Mother Earth News Fair, but truly that's beside the point. Unsolicited plug: There's an annual west coast and east coast event, both at extremely reasonable prices -  see motherearthnews.com for details and gobs of other cool info.  The real point is that sometimes an overdose of out-of-the-box ideas is what will spark the engine and soul to overcome the inertia.  I'm all about getting an education that's steeped in lots of handy experience, too.  It's likely that I'll make it back to another Mother Earth News Fair someday (after I've exhausted what I've gotten from this trip) and if you get a chance to go I'd highly recommend it...and the potato.