Doesn't it seem we're all running as fast as we can?
It’s been a mad, mad week. I’ve finally gotten a day to catch my breath, gasping like a fish out of water. Tomorrow things go crazy again, as I juggle getting ready to leave for the A-OK Alpaca Blastoff and having contractors here to replace our decrepit utilities. I have a whole check list of things to get done before the month ends.
I’m told that I tend to live too much in the future and perhaps that is true. Because this month I’ve been looking forward into the year and wondering how I’m going to juggle all the pieces together to make them fit into one calendar, all while forgetting things I have going on today.
This isn’t a complaint. I look around me and it seems to me that everyone is running as fast as they can, either to get ahead or just to keep their heads above water. But no matter how mad, how frantic and hectic my chore list becomes, the alpacas still get fed, the poop still gets scooped and when there are no extra hours or minutes to spare, I find myself lingering at the barn, picking hay out of topknots in a brief moment of tranquility while a cria gooses me from behind.
Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t be easier not to have the alpacas as a constant, daily responsibility. Sometimes I get caught up in other things and the fire of getting my task list done. But when I’m at the barn, forced to slow down, I realize the truth. And the truth is that the alpacas remind me what is important and constant. And behind the screaming and pressures of our plugged in world, it’s their placid view of what life is that keeps me real.
Isn’t it great to have something that keeps us in reality? Although I don’t raise alpacas, the process of planting a seed in the dark earth and having it produce something good to eat reminds me to focus on those things that are important…love, family, friendship. Farmergal
I’m so glad you get it! As our world becomes increasingly virtual, there’s nothing more grounding.