WEWOKA, OKLAHOMA — He arrived at this latest fork in the road pretty late.
J. Glenn Evans is 88 now but excited about what he calls his last hurrah, an idea he would like to try out on this plot of land.
A visitor asks, “Why in the world would you want to leave Washington State, one of the gardens spots of the U.S. to here?”
Evans makes a circle with his finger beside his head and chuckles, “I’m a little nuts.”
He grew up on a farm near Wewoka where most of his family’s food needs were met with a big garden.
J. Glenn’s family moved to town though.
On a walk through tall weeds on his new land, his guest asks, “Are we bushwhacking your trail?”
Evans says, “No we’re just starting one. We’re pioneers!”
He went off to school and chased success as a stock broker.
He left that and turned to a career in writing.
Several books in he wrote a novel called ‘Wayfarers’ about a group of homeless people who want to help other homeless people.
His thoughts while writing, “I want to do something for people. Create a place where they can live together as a family.”
Evans started walking around and thinking what worked in fiction might work in real life.
“I wanted to make my first place right here in Oklahoma,” he says.
So here’s his new idea.
Invite people, maybe homeless, he’s not sure, to open up this acreage to folks who want to grow their own food, who want to live off their gardens like his family did.
“Food and shelter, and you’re part of a family,” he suggests.
They use no till farming methods, plant some fruit trees, and live in underground houses to stay cool in the summer, warm in winter, and safe in the spring.
Of living underground, Evans says, “It’s good for tornadoes.”
It took him a couple of hours to walk through the brush and get a good gauge on the property.
The only road on it leads to a pump jack, but J. Glenn sees a successful future here.
“Is the land good,” asks his visitor?
“Oh. I think it’s good and rich,” he responds. Look at the soil. It’s had years of composting.”
Call him a visionary, or call him a crazy old man.
J. Glenn Evans just needs a few more crazy people like him to unplug and dig in, to make this fork in the road a little bit wider.
J. Glenn currently makes his home in Olympia, Washington.
To learn more about his work go to www.poetswest.com
