Dear friends,
I’m 72 and my husband, Larry, will also be 72 next month. A few years ago, I learned that when we get older, men start to lose their ability to hear higher tones, women’s voices, and women lose the ability to hear lower tones, men’s voices. That was the first time I remember saying, “What … kind … of … a … plan … is that?” It seemed to me that we had spent years melding into compatibility, somewhat, and now we had this new problem. Well, just take me out and shoot me. That, dear friends, has become another of my little expressions.
Now, I find I’m often saying, “What kind of plan is that?” I say it often, because it often fits! Have you noticed such things? You don’t need to go into serious world problems, but just everyday situations around you. Example: Our little farm is in a drought area. We were more than thankful last week when 2.7 inches of rain gently fell within a 36-hour period. However, just a little farther away, they got 7 inches and it washed away a small bridge, etc. What kind of plan is that? I would have given them 1 inch a week for seven weeks or saved a couple for July or August.
Notice our swing floating in the water in Sappa Creek along the edge of our property. It is normally a shallow spring-fed stream, but it rose drastically to nearly 10 feet from all the rain nearby.
Then there is the garden. You buy the seeds, do the work, and the bugs come and eat it. What kind of plan is that?
You plant fruit trees, and just when they blossom, you get a heavy frost or freeze that kills the fruit for the year. What kind of plan is that?
Need I go on? I asked Larry if he could remember more of my examples. He said that he had a good one right on the fringe of recall, but he couldn’t quite bring it up. I said, “What kind of plan is that?”
All of the above to tell you that this past weekend, I was surveying my kitchen garden at the farm, and noticing all the tiny plants popping out of the ground. Hope! As I was thinning out the kale and chard, I realized I felt a different type of happiness and peace. I’m sure all you gardeners understand what I’m trying to express. It got me to thinking about how our lives have changed since buying the farm and planting everything we could think of and had time for, and how we are now reaping the rewards.
I realized that all the wonderful organic food starts in the early spring with the lettuces, mint and asparagus. Now it is strawberry and gooseberry time. Then as the summer goes by, we will be canning green beans, freezing sweet corn, and digging potatoes. Hopefully there will be carrots, zucchini, cantaloupe and cucumbers. We should have pears and peaches, and cherries are setting on for the first time. In the fall, there will be apples, acorn and butternut squash, onions and pumpkins. I’m sure I left out other foods, but my point is that it doesn’t all happen at once. Not only do we get to enjoy one fresh food after another, but it gives us time to can or freeze each crop instead of everything needing attention at the same time. Now that, dear friends, is a plan!
