It truly feels like fall. There is a crispness in the air, the sun is casting long shadows, days are short, and the tomato plants have slowed down their production. It always seems to change from summer to fall in the blink of an eye but especially this year. It is hard to realize what season, month, or day it is. The pandemic has definitely messed with my sense of time, days seems to fly by, yet drag on forever.
Now that the harvest has really slowed down and there is less urgent work to do around the farm, I’ve been trying to take some time to just be in the field. Time to observe the plants, the weeds, the jumping insects, the random blossoms, the remaining fruit, the standing water, the birds overhead, even the wind blowing through the dried corn stalks.
I normally walk along the field’s edge, occasionally squatting down to get a good look at something, maybe snapping a photo if something looks cool, or picking something for a quick taste. But really I just stare into the field not thinking of anything or making lists, that can be done at another time. I just stare at my plants and the little habitat I have helped create. I guess it is like a meditation as my mind is no longer racing from task to task and I feel a sense of calm.
Just being in the field without an agenda I can really absorb what is happening at the moment allowing my mind to synch up with the season: fall, month: September, day: 30th.