It is 5:30 a.m. Miracles do occur. It's been 3 days straight that I have awakened at this early hour. Previous medications had me sleeping until 9-10 a.m. I'm not sure if this is a side effect of my most recent medication regime but I'm not complaining. My morning chores are done - although there is always something to do here on the farm. The animals are fed and watered and later I will attend to mucking out stalls and helping Dave with anything he needs.
It also occurs to me that if I am able to keep this a regular wake up time, I may actually be able to post on a regular basis. Write and post. Write and post. That has always been a part of the plan for my life but I have been so negligent. But no self-flagellation. Just do it. However, even at this early hour the dogs are managing to be a distraction. It's amazing the things that can come between a person and her intentions. Of course it doesn't take much. Although I say that I want to write, it's truly amazing how much I let distract me. To quote Dorothy Parker, (I think), I'm more of the opinion that I like "having written." The actual sitting down and writing takes an amazing amount of discipline. It's too reminiscent of having to do homework and term papers during my school days. It's funny though because once I get started, I enjoy crafting the paragraphs that tell a story as well as doing research if necessary. For me, it's like discovering hidden treasures. Having to write a sermon on a near weekly basis is pretty much the equivalent of writing a term paper. Weekly. That's a lot and I know that when I was younger, it would not have been voluntary thing.
So - as to farm life, I enjoy the physicality of the work although let me not kid myself. I do not overload myself when it comes to heavy duty requirements. The thing is - it's not that I don't want to. I do but my stamina and energy and physical abilities stop lower on the ladder than that of others. I just cannot exert anymore energy than that of oh, I don't know, a 54 year old grandmother. But that's really not an accurate picture of grandmahood. Many women my age as well as both younger and older have much more energy and physical strength to accomplish specific taskes. And to prove it's not a matter of my age, it's been this way almost forever. I was never the one to keep up with the crowd, whether running or bicycling. I do help Dave with his endeavors but he knows not to push the envelope. Once I feel I've exerted my maximum effort, I'm done. It's over. I have to go and replenish the energy stores for further tasks.
This is the really funny or maybe ironic part of this whole farm thing. It's been more my practice to do less work and here I am taking on what is basically and endless enterprise. Never mind household ownership, farm reality dictates that there will always be something to work on. And I volunteered for this. Wanted it even. Mom & Dad always indicated that farm life was hard work. I would say I wish we lived on a farm and Mom would basically snort and say, "Never again." She had grown up on a farm and couldn't wait to leave. She moved to the city in her late teen years and remained there until she and Dad decided that their family needed to be a suburban family so when I was four, we moved to Monmouth County, NJ. After reading Charlotte's Webb and other animal related tales, that's when my desire to live the country life awakened. But Mom & Dad did not mislead me. For those who fancy the romantic notion of living on a farm -please let go of that fantasy if you ever find yourself with the opportunity to own/live on a farm. It takes energy, effort and efficiency - if you are inclined to that level of self-discipline. For those who are - things may be somewhat smoother. For those of us who are, shall we say, more flexible, it can be daunting to get everything accomplished that you want to. And even that statement is somewhat misleading as there is no ending to the tasks that are part of farm life. However, living on a farm provides endless fodder for storytelling and so that's the plan as I continue this blog. Which up till now had only 20 entries. Yikes, that's not going to get me anywhere. Not if I'm serious about wanting to write....and since the advice is to write what you know, this is what I know. Or am learning about.
But -as my most recent FB posts shows...while life on the farm is work, it also provides a lot to write about. Yesterday's upheaval with the chickens comes to mind: After one of our chickens came running around to the front of the house - faster than Andy Pettite I ran to the back in time to see a fox picking up "dinner." I started screaming "fox, fox!!!" Our weekend/holiday kid J came running back around as well and threw the hot dog buns that he was holding, over the fence and then hauled himself over. The fox wisely decided to make a break for it. As we headed back to the grill J says to me in all seriousness, "I thought you were shouting the F word." I am still laughing. And I am...still laughing. what a hoot. Although that word has escaped my lips before, it's not something I would be running around screaming...in my head - maybe but not out loud. In front of a kid or kids. Anyway - this is the type of thing I want to record and share for those who may be interested but it's also a way to just do what I say I want to do and that's write. Does anyone else have any ideas to keep me going?
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