DVD’s From the Library

“The Biggest little Farm”.

 

Trips to the library are pretty boring, usually. The library has its own odor, which I think has something to do with old books, but might also have something to do with old men. What we used to call in the “good old days”, bums. For good reason they hang around the library both inside and out.. It is cool in the shady courtyard out front in the summer and in the winter, there is heat in the book shelved aisles. There is a drinking fountain if one gets thirsty and a toilet if one, you know, needs one. There might even be food if a body can blend in with the old folks getting their lunch through a food program run by the city. I suspect many of the so-called “bums” are even in the program themselves and live in the subsidized housing within blocks of the library. On the same block as the library is the city police department and inside the library a lone security guard sits right at the entrance, so, one can feel reasonably safe on a library visit despite the proximity of old men in grimy clothing, shuffling in soiled bedroom slippers and muttering incoherently to themselves. They are rarely threatening but sometime distracting. Yesterday there was one old fellow who let loose in the stacks, let loose with curses and rambling discourse on slavery. For a few minutes when I first walked into the front door I was mildly concerned but soon relaxed while he ranted. The security guard did little. The librarians did less. After a short time the guy left but came back calmer and he sat in a corner talking to himself the rest of the time I was there. I went back to my search for entertainment and education with no real concern.

 

Right as you enter the electrically operated front sliding door, there is a section of DVDs. Hundreds of them. On this day I allowed myself to be diverted by them and spent about five minutes sorting through a bunch in a file cabinet drawer I’d never noticed before. Documentaries. I was pretty sure the DVD player at the house was still OK but I hadn’t used in a year or two. I set a limit on how many discs I would allow myself in case it didn’t work anymore. It only took five minutes to find four that sounded interesting. The process allowed me to include only those selections which would be suitable for my interests and Elisabeth’s as well. After all we would most certainly be watching them together in the evening. I couldn’t imagine me, watching them by myself any other time, such is the challenge of conjugal entertainment.

 

So, that same evening, with a little bit of attention to the wiring and after reorienting myself with the remote, the player worked perfectly. We watched the first DVD from the library-“The Biggest little Farm”. It is a story about a couple-John and Mary Chester-who give up city life to try farming, but to be fair it was far more than that. Their association with a consultant who guides them through the first few years on the land inspires them to adopt a farming technique that is mysteriously diverse, almost mysteriously so. The logic of the development is not apparent to the couple at first, but as they progress it becomes clear-the must allow nature and natures diversity to guide them. Unlike other farms they see around them they welcome, as partners, domestic as well as wild animals into the habitat. When they are seemingly overwhelmed by the wild animals and pests around them, they find eventually, that nature itself will bring things back into balance. It remains, for them, to hold on until Mother Nature furnishes the answers to the problems.

 

All in all I found this ecological view of Nature and farming a bit optimistic, but, I also think it is refreshing. That they found success farming this way (as opposed to single crop-business farming) made me feel good. In fact, I felt good about the whole project, the farm, the film, the characters, the animals (especially the dogs! I love dogs.) and I know if I were to try to farm I’d be doing it a lot like them. If I made a film about my farm (or my garden) I’d do it like they did, with stunning camera work, cute animals, interesting people, and an ecological point of view. If you like documentaries you might like this one.

I give it 3 ½ Cheap Beers

“The Biggest little Farm”.

2018, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.