“There’s no money in poetry, but then there’s no poetry in money, either.”
Robert Graves
There's no money in farming either. Not the hard, peasant way that we do it.
But like poetry, farming is a calling, it's in your blood, and that can be a bit of a turn up for the books when you didn't get born on a farm. Oh well, call me a throwback, I've been called worse.
We have been so beset by the getting done and the not getting done, the wasted grass and the growing list of jobs undone, that it has all become a bit now or never.
So it is now.
Or almost now. When a certain financial constellation comes together, we must take a leap into the unknown. This constellation? It' s not Ursa Major, OK? It's not even Orion. It's like, Cassiopeia, at best.
So we won't be in any way safe. It will be borderline possible.
Meanwhile, we will be managing expectations - quoting from the excellent post from The Henhouse :
And at the end of the day, we pray that our priorities and expectations line up with God’s call on our life and the life of our family. In a culture that is consumed with more more more, it is hard to diverge from that busy road and say, “No,” I am going to do less. I am going to spend less time working so I can spend more time enjoying. Slowing down, really seeing, truly listening . . . these are the things we are practicing.
Not so much in our case working less, as working more within our calling. As it stands, Neil has to earn the money, mostly by working off site. So to me, falls the job of farmer. But that's OK. It's the only job I've ever wanted.
Today's list is : Things I Cannot Do and (Column Two) Why
Because ' I cannot build the goat house because I can't lift the pieces' is real, and needs for Neil to come in on the job, but 'I cannot take sheep to market because I cannot reverse the trailer' has a fix. It is probably long hours in the bottom field with an empty trailer and full swear box, but there is a fix.
It's time to step up to the plate. Your prayers are all appreciated!
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2 comments:
I think I must be a conversation behind! Sounds exciting!
oh, sending my prayers into the wild wind for you !!
i love that quote -- it speaks very strongly to me... i concur with your variation of working harder but at the work of our hearts. B and i had a similar conversation last evening....it all comes down to investiture of time and energy -- do we invest in someone elses sustainability, or do we invest more in our own? it's a double-edged sword sometimes, there has to be money coming in....but we also have to be willing to look outside the box for that.
good luck with your trailer reversing -- i remember having to learn to back up a tractor with a dump-trailer on it....into a barn, so a tight squeeze -- VERY frustrating. what made it click for me -- and it might just be my left-handed arsey-ness...."correct rather than direct" -- you'll know what i mean when you get there.
xoxo
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