CREATE Agrarian Core

"I've walked this way since before I arrived, I've talked this way without even trying, and when I got here, I walked this town for fifty some years, walking the same ground." — Richard Arnold Beattie

On Thursday evening in Westcliffe, I will be working with Dick Jones as he reads from his book, "Walking the Same Ground," and I will be singing the songs I wrote, recorded, and perform — bringing me full circle from the rural community my grandparents experienced to "walking the same ground" with Dick Jones and my neighbors, friends, and family in Westcliffe. Yesterday, I wrote about my grandmother and her home-baked foods, savory and sweet, and my grandfather who was the emcee of family gatherings. They were "old country Scots," and I learned so many things from them — from harmony to home and home economics.

The Other Side of the Coin

In studying ancestry from all sides of my family tree, I am amazed at the diversity of "where are you from?" One common thread is that no matter what part of the world you came from, agriculture is in your timeline. Home, work, and community life were neither a balance nor an imbalance — they were integrated. You didn't go to the gym; you did your chores. You rarely went out; you cooked from scratch. Coming home to Westcliffe is like this to me. Jill and I get up early and together we do chores, get ready for the day, and exercise. The entrepreneurial life is much like that of the "gentleman farmer" — saving money, scheduling, and learning skills that can be saved for a rainy day. The Main Street community and the farm-and-ranch economy are all tied to resources, energy, ecology, and education — and they have a homecoming side. Recreation is the earth, land, sea, and sky. My immigrant grandparents and my New York grandparents were farm laborers until the Industrial Revolution.

"Industrial and financial procedures cannot replace stable rural communities. One farmer cannot farm thousands of acres of corn and soybeans in the West without production costs that include erosion and toxicity." — Wendell Berry

On a Rail

I have written about my great-grandfather and the village of Hempstead in Long Island, New York. From the time he was a teenager, he worked the land as a farm laborer — until the Long Island Rail Road began its construction. The same land he, his father, and his brothers farmed and grew potatoes on was the same land where he laid down tracks for the Long Island Rail Road. Those were the same tracks where my grandfather, my mother and father, and I later rode the commuter train into Penn Station. Sometimes I would look out the train window and picture my family in my mind — planting, seeding, and growing crops — and then suddenly see the tracks go by.

Agrarian Thought

This Thursday, Dick Jones and I will be reading his stories and singing my songs. I realize that agrarian thought runs through the words and concepts of this homecoming. They pull on the heartstrings, producing a yearning for the authentic and real. The songs deepen that desire. Integrity is a consistency of who we are at home, through our work, and in community — no separation between the three. We become the best version of ourselves in who we are, what we do, and where we gather together. At Valley Parks and Recreation, that is what I want to share: that no matter where you are from, you can come home again.

Richard Arnold Beattie is a singer-songwriter who works with authors, musicians, and creates original recordings, radio, and resources that reflect community, recreation, education, arts, travel and transportation, and entrepreneurship — at home, through work, and in community. To join our board, email richardbeattie809@gmail.com.