Leah, who is our gardening consultant, came by today to pick up some bucketed manure and to say hello. She and I chatted for well over an hour – at the same time we soaked up the day’s sunshine and enjoyed the near windless day. Pete had said that bad weather was forecast. Not so.

Leah, who I estimate to be 26, has considerable youthful energy. It’s for this reason that I very much enjoy being around her. The most amazing thing of all was that in the time we stood talking, neither of us stopped the conversation in order to text or to take a cell phone call.

Sorry folks, but it’s downright annoying to be talking with someone and have them turn their attention elsewhere – elsewhere being a conversation with someone else. And now, because everyone does this, it’s considered to be acceptable. I disagree. It’s just plain rude. I’d just as soon have no conversation with such people at all.

Leah and I just kept talking, mainly about gardening stuff. I also appreciated the fact that she doesn’t talk in sound bites, like, you know, like, like, like, like. This is a woman who clearly has her verbal shit together.

One of the things that we talked about was the Palmer Chamber of Commerce, and last night’s annual meeting. Leah’s observations about the gathering were very astute. She could see that the town’s more corporate entity was attempting to throw their bulk around. We agreed that it’s scary – the members seem to be Pebble Mine supporters—in fact, a site tour was put up for auction and went for $1,600.00. Sad, but some feel as though the resources are just there for the taking.

I gave Leah eight buckets of my hand turned compost, and, glancing over at the new compost facility, told her that there will be more in the spring. She was incredibly appreciative. She treated it as if it was an actual gift. Like a good book, I just want to see it get used.

Leah is going to keep taking manure for as long as the weather holds. (My backup is Andre’s trailer, which is now empty.) I’m going to stash it in the third stall, with the empty buckets. This way, it will stay dry, and be less likely to freeze. She laughed when I said that my goal is to minimize the use of the new compost facilty; my motto is “keep shit moving.”

Leah’s upbeat attitude saw me through the rest of the afternoon. I like it when people visit and at least momentarily, do as I do, and act like the ongoing conversation is the most important thing in the whole world. And what fun, to talk about things we are doing, as opposed to the sorry state of the world.

Next: 309. 10/15/12: Horses, Horses, Everywhere