THE PEOPLE WHO PUT THEIR HAND UP
The night the couple were not needed
By Sam Marwood
Post 19 of 19
The lights were on and the chairs were out when the couple reached the doorway of the hall, and the tea towels were still over one arm.
The meeting had already started without them, and the farmer who stood with them was in the chair and well into the first item.
This is an illustration of how it could unfold when it goes right. The district and the people in it aren't any one place or person.
The couple are two farm workers who took the step, and they still farm the community owned farm that was the district's first place.
They had come early to set the room up, and the room was already set, so they stood with the towels and listened before they sat.
The talk was the work already underway on the farms they have, and how to keep farms in local hands.
One farmer had the floor and the chair asked a short question, and the room answered it without anyone looking to the door.
They put the towels on the side bench and took two chairs along the wall, and a page was passed down without the talk stopping.
One of them smiled at the other, because the meeting had started on time, and it had started without the two of them.
The farmer in the chair kept the item moving, the couple followed the page, and the room didn't need a word from the doorway.
They slipped out while the next item was opening, and the hall light stayed on as they drove towards the farm.
They'll be in the dairy before light, on the place they farm, and the meeting they left was still going.
Community Owned Farms is free at cultivatefarms.com/resources.