August29th, 2024
I care for our three-year-old grandson, Asher, most mornings. My wife, Karin, generally watches over the boy in the afternoon. Karin is often busy in the morning with her knitting groups or with her fiber projects at home. I try to give her at least a couple hours of quiet time when she wants to spin on her wheel or weave on her floor loom. So, Asher and I go places. Sometimes, he wants to go to one of the local playgrounds. Sometimes, he wants to hang out at the library. It doesn’t much matter to me where we go as long as the boy gets some exercise and stays away from videos.
A week ago, I asked Asher if he wanted to see the alpacas.
He quickly replied, “Yes! I want to visit the alpacas.!”
We drove a few miles south to the Eco-Justice Center in Racine. The Eco-Justice Center is a farm in a semi-rural area that for many years was operated by Dominican Sisters. Now, it’s run about a non-profit composed mainly of young women. The farm raises alpacas, goats, and chickens. In addition, the place is a testing ground for organic farming techniques and renewable energy. The farm is well on its way to being 90% energy self-sufficient. Asher and I go there to see the animals, and to check out any new projects.
When we arrived, Alex, the volunteer manager, and one of the young women were getting ready to move the alpacas. Alex told us,
“We’re going to take the alpacas to the north pasture. Do you want to walk with us?”
Asher grinned and said, “We’re going to walk with the alpacas!”
And we did. We walked close to the animals, but not too close. Alex had clued us in that they like to kick if a person gets too close to them. Alex and the young woman slowly led the alpacas down a trail and into a corral. I noticed that much of the pasture was covered with baby trees in tall blue plastic tubes. I asked Alex about the trees.
He told me, “We got a grant to plant trees to reduce soil erosion in this area. We planted 400 of them, mostly willows and poplars that grow fast. Later, we will plant some disease-resistant elms.”
I was interested. Asher was not. However, Asher was fascinated with the wind turbine that was spinning high up on a pole. He decided that he didn’t want to see the goats or the chickens, so we went back to the car.
I asked Asher, “Do you want to go to the lighthouse?”
He smiled and said, “Yeah!”
We drove a couple miles to the lighthouse at Wind Point. It’s over 100 years old, and it sits a few yards from the Lake Michigan shore. It was cool and there was stiff breeze coming off the lake. The wind whipped up the breakers and the water near the beach was brown from the churned-up sand. The sun shown on the water further away. It was a deep blue color that sparkled in the light.
Asher Liked the beach. He insisted on walking on top of the boulders near the water. I held his hand as he stepped from one stone to the next. The wind blew through his hair, and he kept pulling on my hand as we walked.
I looked at Asher and I looked at scenery. I thought for a moment, and then I realized that there was nothing else I would rather be doing.
Frank is Emptiness 