A New Season

I'm sitting here at my computer, trying to catch up on emails, blogs, spreadsheets, invoices, annual reports - all items on my to-do list.  We started the corn harvest last weekend, we've finished the strawberry picking, and we're in the middle of the bean, wheat and grass seed harvests.  We'll be digging the onions in a couple of weeks, too.  And next month, we'll start harvesting the squash and pumpkins.  The celery is the last crop we haul out of the fields in late September.  Needless to say, summer is not a relaxing time around the farm.  We are both so busy that we barely have time to discuss the day's events over dinner - if we even get to eat dinner at the same time after closing the produce stand for the evening.  This time of year I feel exhausted most of the time.

But it's not like this year-round.  I can remember cold winter days when I wasn't at my part-time, off-the-farm job and I was caught up with farm paperwork and most of my daily chores.  The phones were quiet and no cars were buzzing in and out of our driveway.  I sat by the fire, sipping hot chocolate and even had time to read the stack of books and magazines that pile up in my office over the summer months.  I had time to listen to music, schedule a shopping trip in town, spend a day in Portland at the record stores or take my grandchildren to the movies.

I love my life on the farm.  I love helping my over-worked husband.  I love the fact that we're producing high-quality, good-tasting fruits and vegetables instead of some widget that we're going to have to spin a clever marketing pitch to convince people to buy.  I love being part of the rural community in this area of the state.  I have a truly wonderful, blessed life.

The older I get, the faster the years seem to go by.  Those relaxing winter days will be here before we know it.  Right now, I'm going 100 mph in several directions at once.  But in just a few weeks, the pace will slow down and I'll be able to catch my breath.  I like to start planning our post-harvest getaway weekend right about now.  It gives me motivation to push on during the busy harvest season.  There is a light at the end of my harvest-time tunnel.  It just takes a few months of hard work to reach it. 

Comments

[danifesto]

You do a great job of appreciating the present, knowing that it's not forever and things will change. So positive! Hang in there!