Experiential Learning

Experiential learning is defined as "learning through reflection on doing". I've been reflecting on some of the experiences in my life....the ones that helped shape who I am. We all have events in our lives that influence the path we walk. I thought I might share one of those experiences with you this morning as I travel across the pond on another new adventure. This is a story from my late teens. The time we pass through shapes us in profound ways. It was the early 70's and the world was very different...so was I.

I was disappointed in my first semester of college. I had envisioned great halls of learning...seemed more like a big high school. However I met some people that seemed to have a deeper understanding. They were older and had been involved in starting a chapter of SDS at the University.

McGovern lost the election that November (the first in a long line of my wasted votes). We all piled into the VW van and headed to DC to protest Nixon's inauguration and the ongoing Vietnam War. The mall was full. I still have a vivid image of people filling the Lincoln Memorial, smoking pot, and surrounded by police.

There was a Northern filmmaker that came to town and shot a documentary about black pulpwooders. He was shocked at the low price of property here and decided to invest in an 80 acre farm. There were a couple of houses and a barn. Most of the place was in weedy pasture. He needed someone to look after his place and we got the job. We got to live there for free provided we paid the bills and looked after things. So a group of us moved to the property in what we called a coop rather than commune. This was about the time they founded The Farm in nearby Tennessee. The Farm Community continues to survive demonstrating that people can live together in a way that is ecological, peaceful, and viable. We were fewer and less organized.

There were eight of us – six young adults and two kids along with three dogs (a great dane, chow, and toy poodle) and a cat. Three of us got a job with a carpenter, Joe. One was a lawyer opening a new practice in a small town 20 or so miles away. In fact it was the town featured in the S-town podcast. One a teaching grad student, and another a nurse. We didn't really have a formal agreement, but figured we would do our best to split the expenses. We wanted to be a cooperative community.

The farm had two houses. Mom and the kids lived in a small three room house, and the rest of us in the other. We usually cooked and ate dinner together. I had done some cooking earlier in my life, but I built my cooking basics and food management skills at the farm. We bought in bulk from the food coop. We ate well, and on the cheap. It is also where I grew my first garden.

It was the time...we all felt the change in the air and wanted to make our lives more fulfilling. The back side of the farm bordered the interstate, and it was the day of hitchhiking. One of my most most memorable trips was thumbing down to Florida near Grayton Beach. There was a solitary Motel that had been damaged by wind and fire, but the concrete portion was still standing and made a nice structure. There were about twenty young folks camping there. It was quite the trippy weekend – making sand candles in the beach, flying kites, playing frisbee, swimming...a real TAZ.

Sometimes we would load up the van and go to a concert. Usually nearby. The Allman Brothers often played free concerts in the quad. And a band we liked lived down the road so we sometimes went to see them. But occasionally we would drive all the way to Atlanta to the Great Southeastern Music Hall...which was really a pretty intimate venue. Saw some great folks there –early Emmy Lou and John Prine among them.

In early spring Joe the carpenter had a heart attack. Often the young women on the crew worked shirtless, but I don't tink that was the cause of his heart attack. As a result, three of us lost our jobs. I learned many building skills and tricks from him. I also learned pot and carpentry are not a good mix...I cut this board twice and its still too short. With bad there is often a little good. Loosing that job is what inspired me to grow a garden. I cleaned out the old barn and had a fair amount of composted manure. It was like magic to see that manure make the garden green and full.

Then I thought about making use of the barn and pasture, and everybody thought it would be a good idea. We placed an ad in the paper, and a local farmer showed up within a week. We walked the fence line and it needed some mending, but it wasn't in too bad a shape. He sent one of his hands over to help me and provide fence tools and stretchers. We gave him a bargain to graze his cows, and later to house a couple of horses. Suddenly I was making a subsistence salary staying home and being outside.

A last story. Doing carpentry work was easier wearing a pony tail. My thick hair made wearing it long a pain. So I cut my hair. Well you would have thought I sold out to the man (not the folks in the coop but the larger community). It was as though what is on the outside was more important than what was on the inside of your head. Besides everyone was growing their hair long. It no longer meant being against the war or for civil rights or anything other than a fashion statement. It was an important lesson to think for yourself and not to worry about the crowd.

It was that experience that summer that pointed me to my current situation, and led me to Ag school at Auburn. We all decided about the same time to go different directions. Most went to create a new community in California...somewhere near Eureka. Others wanted to live closer to their work.

Our experiences shape us as much or maybe more than our genetics. The time period we pass through during our lives also shapes us. A friend wrote a book about Alabama fiddlers back in the 80's. Listening to their fiddle styles you can hear the time period they came through...ragtime, big band, swing, bluegrass, and my aged fiddlers – rock and roll. We are a product of our time.

This piece is the first in a short series reflecting on things that shape the people we are and are becoming. Next week we'll discuss the effect of place....the where. I hope today's message of the effect of the when and the how was clear, and not me just rambling on about my memories. What are your memories of those times? I look forward to reading your stories and comments below.