The growing season is starting to slow down. The tomatoes are taking longer to ripen. The pumpkin vines are dying off and the dried bean rows are empty. There is still work to be done in the field but it can wait until tomorrow, so its time for the farmer to get off the farm and be social.
This past week my mom and her college roommate (46 years of friendship) were visiting and it was great to be able to take off the work gloves and join them in their fun escapades. As a farmer it’s easy to never take a day off, because there is always work that needs to be done. I’m guilty of working non stop at the farm but when an opportunity arises to spend quality time with friends or family, I remember what a farmer told me during one of my first apprenticeship, “Is it gonna matter in 100 years?”
In a hundred years is it gonna matter if one week I harvested 10 flats of tomatoes instead of 15? In a hundred years will it matter if I let the irrigation lines get covered in weeds? Or lost part of my bean crop to critters cause I delayed the harvest? I don’t think so.
But I do think I would regret not spending an afternoon chatting with a friend over coffee, or taking the day to drive out to the coast with my husband, or seizing the opportunity to chase the sun rise in a hot air balloon with loved ones. No matter how passionate you are about your work, you still must take time to live.
