I feel really lucky to have grown up in the Upper Perkiomen Valley. There’s a strong Pennsylvania Dutch heritage there (of which I share) and as a youngster, my grandparents would share lots of stories, their stories, that painted a picture of times long gone. Part of those stories were a fondness for that “simple life”. Coming back home, you can still get a sense for it if you know where to look. One of those spots for me is back around the reservoir which has ribbons of single track which are cut through the woods. It’s a place I can escape to, find peace in mind and soul and take in the calm from the bustle back in town. So if you know where to go and where to look, you can find that piece of the simple life right in your backyard so to say. And I find that in the soil for some reason which is unchanged by time.
My home town of East Greenville, Pa sits on a massive red shale deposit. Where my Grandparent’s lived in the next town over is Red Hill and it’s aptly named. The soil is a deep red color, it’s very rich soil too and little wonder why those German farmers settled here, of which my Great Great Grandfather was a Tenant Farmer I recently came to know. So as a kid, that’s just what I thought soil looked like. Then when I was old enough to go further without “parental approval”, aka I was a Boy Scout which is essentially organized mayhem, I found that soil varies by location. I remember one of my first hikes on the Appalachian trail. I got out of the car, suited up and looked down to find that the soil beneath my feet was this odd yellow color… Which felt strange at first since the soil back home is so red. That’s just what I “thought” soil looked like. That’s dirt, right? Yes. And well, no. But with each step, that soil felt the same beneath my feet. And I found so much more there was to be discovered. I came to love that dirt too. And so it goes with each adventure I sought and each adventure pointed to “new discoveries in dirt”.
Funny thing getting out of that space you call home to discover just how diverse our land really is…
Thoughts on Soil…
I feel really lucky to have grown up in the Upper Perkiomen Valley. There’s a strong Pennsylvania Dutch heritage there (of which I share) and as a youngster, my grandparents would share lots of stories, their stories, that painted a picture of times long gone. Part of those stories were a fondness for that “simple life”. Coming back home, you can still get a sense for it if you know where to look. One of those spots for me is back around the reservoir which has ribbons of single track which are cut through the woods. It’s a place I can escape to, find peace in mind and soul and take in the calm from the bustle back in town. So if you know where to go and where to look, you can find that piece of the simple life right in your backyard so to say. And I find that in the soil for some reason which is unchanged by time.
My home town of East Greenville, Pa sits on a massive red shale deposit. Where my Grandparent’s lived in the next town over is Red Hill and it’s aptly named. The soil is a deep red color, it’s very rich soil too and little wonder why those German farmers settled here, of which my Great Great Grandfather was a Tenant Farmer I recently came to know. So as a kid, that’s just what I thought soil looked like. Then when I was old enough to go further without “parental approval”, aka I was a Boy Scout which is essentially organized mayhem, I found that soil varies by location. I remember one of my first hikes on the Appalachian trail. I got out of the car, suited up and looked down to find that the soil beneath my feet was this odd yellow color… Which felt strange at first since the soil back home is so red. That’s just what I “thought” soil looked like. That’s dirt, right? Yes. And well, no. But with each step, that soil felt the same beneath my feet. And I found so much more there was to be discovered. I came to love that dirt too. And so it goes with each adventure I sought and each adventure pointed to “new discoveries in dirt”.
Funny thing getting out of that space you call home to discover just how diverse our land really is…