Saturday, November 28, 2009

Farm Daze

This has been about the most hectic week I have spent in quite a while. Last Saturday, we had our last CSA pick up of the season (we go on for a really long time), as well as our regular winter Farmer's Market in Davidson. That means I got to pick all day Friday and it was COLD! I have to get down on my knees to pick lettuce and other baby sized greens, and since the ground was still wet from the rain just a couple of days prior, I was damp and muddy in no time. Only thing that kept that day from being totally miserable is that the greens I was picking were so beautiful, it was easy to focus on them and kind of meditate my way thru this chore.

Because we were trying to get the last CSA pick up arranged at a time that everyone could have some stuff for Thanksgiving from the Farm, I scheduled the last pick up for the Tuesday groups to be on Monday, to accommodate travelers, etc. That means I had to pick on Sunday, which I don't ordinarily do, but this time it was necessary. Problem was that it rained most of the day and it was only about 50 degrees. I nearly froze!!! Hypothermia is possible in 50 degree water and I might has well have been in that situation. Once I was done and came into the house, it took me hours to warm up, even with a wool blankie tucked around my feet and some serious Chai Tea.

On Monday, I went out twice to do CSA pick ups, one in Huntersville and one in Charlotte, so Tuesday was mostly an all day thing. I left my house around 8 am and got in for the night around 7 pm. It was misty, moisty, not so cold so I was able to sit in my car, waiting on members to pick up and read the better part of a Belva Plain novel. I don't ordinarily read that kind of novel, but it was the only thing I had in the car with me, since I forgot my bookbag in my rush to get out the door Monday morning.

Tuesday, I spend the entire day (8am until 7pm, again...) at doctor's appointments with The Farmer. PET scans, CT, MRI and then on to the doctor to have them read and to talk about how things are going with The Farmer's cancer treatment. Some problems showed up and we have to go back next week for another indepth consult and more tests.

On Wednesday, I marketed, cleaned up some and worked on prep for Thanksgiving dinner. Mostly I ended up running errands because I forget how hectic things get off the Farm sometimes, especially around holidays and it took 4 times as long to do everything from go to the bank to picking up chicken feed. It was nice, too, in a way, because everybody was friendly and wanted to chat instead of the usual blank faced stares and/or non-committal comments I often notice. I am not really down with Thanksgiving in the spirit it was created but I do love it when my fellow citizens of the planet are imbued with the holiday spirit. Seems like they are a little kinder, a little more thoughtful and a little more aware of other people. Although it sounds cliche, of course, I wish it could be like this 24/7, 365(6). Maybe the world wouldn't be in such a state.

Thursday was the holiday so that doesn't need much discussion. It was nice to be with the family and the dinner was excellent. Wish everybody could have been there, but we'll get the rest of them at Christmas.

Friday, The Farmer has a nosebleed that started Thursday night and wouldn't stop, so we spent most of yesterday (it is Saturday as I am typing this)in the emergency room at the local hospital. The nosebleed thing is not related to the cancer or its treatment in anyway, but is just adds a lot of misery to an already uncomfortable situation. The poor doctor on call at the ER was alone, except for the nursing staff, and he was running ragged. Kudos to him for being the doctor who worked yesterday. There had been two relative serious auto accidents earlier in the a.m. and he had dealt with that as well as the usual "day after eating bad food" customers in the ER (remember, not everybody is a good cook) as well as some people who were just plain sick.

Anyway, we got the nosebleed taken care of and have an appt. to get more treatment on that on Monday, so I am hoping that the rest of today and tomorrow proves to be a little more restful because besides taking The Farmer to the ENT on Monday, I have a meeting at 1pm, and getting my windshield replaced on my car in the afternoon. I neglected to mention that on Monday last, while sitting and waiting on my CSA members, a big truck flew by and popped a big rock onto my windshield and it cracked all over...can't be repaired, has to be replaced.

So, that was my week last week...thought it would be good to let you all know that life on the Farm is not always as peaceful and idyllic as it might seem, although if you notice from this post, all the chaos happened off the Farm....

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Simply Thankful

What a life! Every day I thank the stars that I am able to live this life I have. Even when adversity is thrown my way, I always have something to be thankful for. I sincerely wish that everyone could experience this way of living.

I go to bed when I am tired and get up when I am ready. I almost never fail to fall asleep soon as my head hits the pillow. Stress happens, but not anything that I can't handle. The time clock I punch is regulated by sunrise and sunset. I breath clean country air (except for when the neighboring dairy farm cleans their barn or the manure guys bring a load in...but that just smells like reality to me). I drink water from a well that is 400+ feet deep and it comes up cold and sweet, like God intended. You can't get water like that in a bottle. I eat mostly organic food that I mostly grow myself. I preserve summer harvests to enjoy in the cold of winter, although we usually have something growing year round! When it is time for dinner, I take my picking basket and head outside to peruse the "aisles" of my personal grocery. I can bake my own bread, make my own apple butter or strawberry jam to go with it. I hang my clothes outside on a line and they come in smelling like sunshine and fresh air, instead of fabric softener. I live with someone whom I love more than words, who makes me laugh and treats me like a princess.

I don't need much in the way of material goods which is a good thing, because I don't have a lot of that anymore. Yet I feel richer than any king because after 25 years of chasing success in a career that was took too much of my life away from me and my family, I finally realized that you really can't buy happiness. One key to realy happiness is having someone in your life who compliments you in such a way that it allows you to be secure in your relationship, to have complete trust in that other person, which in turn allows you the freedom to become "all that you can be".I don't personally know too many people who actually have that in their lives and because I do, it is one of the things that I am most and truly thankful for. I know that I am a very lucky person in that regard and never, never take it for granted in any way. I love you, honey.

I also love my parents, my brother, my kids, my grandkids, my inlaws (past and present), my friends and am thankful for each and everyone of them. I feel blessed to have been given a rare and special childhood, one from which I have not a single bad memory. Thanks, Mom and Dad. I am thankful that I was lucky enough to have had all my grandparents alive until I was well into adulthood and that I have wonderful memories from each of them.

I am thankful that I have intelligence, compassion, strength and talents. I use them as wisely as I can and try to make my world a better place so that my grandchildren will inherit a world as beautiful as the one I did.

Happy Thanksgiving.