gossip along the grapevine

Sometimes life at the Farm can feel a little like the Norman Rockwell painting, "The Gossips."  Last week we received a gentle reminder of how gossip in community, like wild fire, spreads fast and can do damage--luckily in this case, just hurt feelings. Gossip among the staff is bound to happen since our worlds are so entangled with each other; working and living in a small radius leads to a lack of conversation on much outside of community sometimes, as we get so wrapped up in our lives here.

But, I would rather focus instead on the benefits of community chatter. How when you are out sick, friends and neighbors hear and check on you, or ask after you; how when something exciting (i.e. being accepted into grad school) happens, friends and neighbors pass along their congrats; or in today's case, when babies are born, the entire community hears about it and seems to swell with pride together.

Two community members who met here, married not far from here and both still work at the Farm, welcomed twins--a baby girl and baby boy. I love that I heard about it from B2, who stopped his truck to announce not only the sex of the kids, but also their names, weights and inches. As I wandered around the main house people kept saying things like, "Did you hear...?!" or "They're here!" I even heard squeals and cheers from the office crowd on the upper floors as I meandered through. Ah...a community brought together to celebrate each others triumphs, our collective familial joys.