Stewarding A Living Land: First Steps

“And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.”~ John Muir

My partner and I have been hiking 268+ acres in Western Massachusetts since May. The land, once used for logging, hasn’t been touched in over 50 years. It is home to countless creatures and is for sale.

There are no marked trails and no one other human is around. It is sweet surrender to follow Enrique as he navigates the living land. I see myself in the undulating ebb and flow of her peaks, valleys and waterways. In the dramatic depth of her ravines filled with reishi, chaga, oyster, and turkey tail. In the birch, pine, beech, hickory, hemlock and old maple trees that populate the earth. No one can see me, not even him. Just the trees, and the quiet animals. The porcupine in the tree, so still, he looks like a fungal growth.

As we hike, we dream. We imagine what we would do if the land were under our care. We would do our part to heal and restore the land if necessary while offering animals — including humans — sanctuary. But ‘buying’ the land seems completely out of reach and a backwards concept to begin with. How can something alive, home to so many other creatures ever be owned?

Enrique hugging an old Maple in May

I have always been conflicted about the idea of “owning” land. And yet, I’ve wanted to protect land and provide access for people who have been forced out or pushed away by “owning” as much as possible. Enrique has always felt the same way. I asked him to put it in a few words today and this is what he said:

"It's been a romantic, primal idea to live off the land. Maybe I got the idea from my parents, my grandparents and generations of family who lived off the land in Puerto Rico. A love of nature that I hoped to pass on to my kids. But growing up in Chicago, living in big cities and being a minority it seemed like living in a rural environment in the United States was not only financially inaccessible but culturally uninviting. By the time this opportunity arose my sentiments toward land ownership had evolved. It’s a reclamation, but more than that, I've realized the land needs stewards as much as stewards need the land."

Me amongst the trees last weekend.

I have lived a transient, almost nomadic lifestyle since 2014. Really, for my entire 20+ years in New York city. I moved from apartment to apartment from the time I arrived in the mid-90’s: Brooklyn to the East Village to the Bronx then back to the East Village and finally home to Brooklyn, my base for over a decade. From there, I studied nature and traveled to wild places for months at a time: the Scottish Highlands, the jungles of Costa Rica, the forests of the Northeast. Each time I circled back to the city, it was harder and harder to adjust to the urban landscape. My body craved the wilderness. I’ve wanted to root down, to live in the forest for so long. And for so long, I’ve wanted a partner who wanted that too.

Now here we are.

Today, I am writing to share that Enrique and I have become the stewards of the land we’ve fallen in love with. 268+ gorgeous forested acres in Western Massachusetts, just 30 minutes away from the woods where I grew up. This will change the shape of my work as I ground, integrate all I’ve learned over the years and, of course, learn much, much more. Our intention is to live in harmony with the wilderness and provide refuge for people, non-human animals and nature. 

Starting today, I’ll be sharing our journey