Farming Like Swimming: Week #5, 7/10/2019
It’s a lovely pool. Small. Almost always deserted. Pretty warm seeing as its residents are typically older. There’s quite a collection of floatable items there too, which is always fun for the kids.
Occasionally, I’ll duck under and take a little lap or two. Sometimes I enjoy diving in on one end and seeing if I can make the length of the pool without coming up for air.
Last Friday, after a particularly stressful workday, I was taking one of those breath-holding laps. I could feel the beginning of the burn, the first signal that it’s time to come up for air. I swam through it, felt my hand hit the wall, and came up for a breath. It felt good. I felt satisfied. Though also a little tired from the push.
As I was catching my breath and watching my kids splash around, I realized I get that same feeling when farming. Just magnified onto a larger scale.
The high season is a time to work like mad, to push through even when your body/mind/soul want you to stop and breathe.
Every Sunday night, after the kids are to bed and I start prepping for the week, I feel like I’m about to dive in the water. Monday morning I jump in and then I begin to swim. I don’t feel like I come up for air again until Friday. Then I get to breathe and rest and recoup with my kiddos all weekend. Then, it’s time to dive in again.
Sometimes I feel really sad about this. I want to be splashing around with my kids on a Wednesday, instead of submerged under water. I want to feel like I’m parenting with my full faculties about me, instead of parenting with my lungs burning for a breath.
But I also know that I like the burn. I like the push. The same is definitely true for Mike. He thrives from it. If we didn’t enjoy this to some extent, we definitely wouldn’t farm.
This ability to push past, push farther, go faster, do more – it’s a basic requirement of the job.
So swim I will this week. And I so look forward to coming up for air and being with my girls on Friday.
Cheers,
Farmer Cassie
