Time Travel

I was transported back in time to the 1960s.  I wouldn't have been surprised to see Mother Earth News magazines about.  The talk was all of sustainable, organic farming; which chainsaws were best for which jobs; unusual bees that had shown up at the hives; recipes using hand-ground grain.  The hamburgers were hand-raised, organic beef donated by a neighbor, with homemade whole wheat buns, and all the side dishes were vegetables raised in home gardens.  The tomatoes and corn were picked at the party by the guests from the hosts' own garden just before the meal.  I unfortunately had to leave just as the churn was brought out to make fresh goat milk and strawberry ice cream.  It has been so long since I've heard conversation from people who are actually passionate about their jobs, and who not only talk the talk...this is their very life.  Baby piglets ran loose among the guests, and chickens pecked at the outskirts, while a small flock of geese paraded by in stately fashion.  The family goats had taken refuge from the heat of the day under a nearby tree.  My own goats are my entree into this group of warm, welcoming, gentle people.  I had met them all at a party for the winter solstice last year.  The gathering this weekend was to celebrate the impending birth of my friends' second child.  Men did not go off to talk "man talk" while the women told labor stories.  These people attend the farrowing of their pigs, calving, lambing, kidding, hatching, and every new life is cause for celebration.  The women have mostly given birth at home with the assistance of a midwife, as my friend plans to do.  With only myself and a couple of other exceptions, none of this crowd was alive at the time of the 1960s communes, and I'm not sure they realize they are history repeating itself.  It's certainly not a bad time to revisit.