The scythe feels surprisingly light when I lift it. It swings through the clover easily, and the movement feels natural, though I know I’ll get smoother with practice. And the feel of it makes clear — if you’re going to cut grass with a knife, you want the blade to be sharp.
It’s an agile kind of skill, and it’s exhilarating. I’ve been waiting for this morning since early spring — Shelby and Steve Howland from Howland Tools in Shelburne Falls have come to the Working Hands, Working Lands series at Williamstown Rural Lands, to teach a tradition centuries old. Shelby tells us he likes the quiet efficiency of it, getting outdoors on a summer morning and knowing what’s growing in his yard and fields.
That’s partly why I’m here — I want to care for the land where I live, and the native plants and pollinators who live here with me. And now I know what scything feels like, I’m finding out I love it the way I love rolling pie crust or driving a stick shift, or cantering a farm horse up an old wood road. It’s a skill you get to know by feel and subtle vibration.
Shelby Howland demonstrates how to peen and sharpen a scythe blade at Williamstown Rural Lands.
Shelby shows us how to sharpen the scythe when you’re in the field — an easy flicking motion when he does it, like a fiddler flying through a reel. He hands around the sharpening stone. It’s wet and as smooth as find sand paper, as long as my hand and tapered like a canoe.
He lets me try gliding it down the knife edge while he can watch and correct my grip and angle when I’m holding it against the metal. And I think of making bread, the way I learned from my mother — you know how the dough feels when you’ve kneaded it smooth, and you can tell when a loaf is baked through by turning it over to thump the bottom and listen for the sound it makes.
This weekend …
Tanglewood is at it’s height — looking ahead to a BUTI concert of harp music in tribute to the BSO’s longtime principal harpist, Ann Hobson Pilot, on Sunday, and a performance honoring acclaimed poet Rita Dove tonight — and National Poet Joy Harjo next week, and the Silk Road Ensemble with Rhiannon Giddens and more.
A Tanglewood Music Center tuba Fellow rehearses on a sunny day. Photo by Marco Borggreve, courtesy of Tanglewood
The Tanglewood Learning Institute holds events year-round. Press photo courtesy of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Joy Harjo, 23rd United States Poet Laureate, will read her work virtually at Bennington College. Press photo courtesy of Bennington College.
Nationally acclaimed vocalist, musician and composer Rhiannon Giddens will talk with the Boston Pops. Press photo courtesy of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
The BUTI harp students will perform recent work by composer and violinist Jessie Montgomery at Tanglewood. Press photo courtesy of the BSO and the composer.
A girl stands surrounded by bubbles on the lawn at Tanglewood. Press photo courtesy of the BSO.
Morning light glimmers around the spreading tree on the Tanglewood lawn. Press photo courtesy of the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Events coming up …
Find more art and performance, outdoors and food in the BTW events calendar.
