November 27, 2017
786 First of all, what is a 'farmstead'? Bing defines it as 'a farm and its buildings', which is exactly where we find ourselves living today, thanks be to God. One year ago we found ourselves in Dubai. That job and location was not meant to be, for a variety of reasons, so when a relative offered us to rent out their unoccupied farmhouse in a rural area of the State of Maine, we took them up on the offer, moving into the 1950s house in midwinter. Second, what is the significance of titling the blog, 'Wilderness of North America'? Actually, it is a direct reference to the Nation of Islam, from a speech by Elijah Muhammad (see http://www.albany.edu/jmmh/vol1no1/elijahmuhammad.html ) that refers to the unfortunate state of persons of African descent brought to this continent as slaves, and their struggles to reclaim their Black, Muslim identity in the spiritual 'desert' of a continent dominated by White, Christian, European culture. As a White Am...