We Bought a Farm: Piece and Peace from a WWOOFer

Photo by Leah Pellegrini

The day that a WWOOFer leaves our farm is always a bit emotional for me. This is someone that we have opened up our home to and have lived with for weeks or months at a time. I'm happy to see them go in that they are on to new adventures and have the opportunity to see and learn new things. I am happy that we will soon get to meet someone new as well, as it is so interesting to learn and meet new people. 

But I am sad because they have started to nestle into my heart and life. They have started to fit me like a broken-in pair of tennis shoes or thosecomfy pajamas, and even though I know they may not be perfect, the thought of meeting someone new and waiting again until they fit .... well it stresses me out. 

Each time a new WWOOFer comes to our farm, I feel anxious. I want them to be happy. I want them to feel welcome. I want them to ... well ... like us. Each time I go to pick one up or greet one at our door (I see "one" as if they are not human :) I think to myself: "This is the last time I am doing this. This is too much for my doesn't-like-spontaneity self."

But then I meet them. And I like them. And I don't want them to go. All of them. Just incredible people with such varied life stories and experiences. They are male and female. Christian and atheist. American and Foreign. Liberal and Conservative. Shy and outgoing. 

They are people.

Leah was lucky #13 here at the Bauernhof, and she shared her experiences in the following post on her own website: A Story about Loss + Redemption. It's a little bit ironic that her post follows the life of a little spotted pig named Lucky. 

Leah is from New York. We have a farm in Eastern TN. She is a vegetarian. We are raising meat to eat. We do not see the world the same. But we live in the same world. And we process and grieve like all human beings. 

I hope you enjoy Leah's post. She won't tell you this in the post, but Leah was working a big-wig job in New York City. She was into fashion and style. And then, suddenly, she decided she wanted to see what farming was all about. She quit that job and is traveling around the USA. She is staying on different farms and not worrying about her make-up or hair as she did every day as she wrote and did big-wig things in the Big Apple. 

Enjoy!