Sunday, March 6, 2016

Best Laid Plans


“I’m sorry I wasted your day”, said my beautiful, but exhausted looking daughter, Jen.   I was snuggled up with two of my grand-angels reading a book to them and I smiled and replied, “honey, no day is wasted when you get to spend it with those you love.”  I guess she knows her momma and knew that this wasn’t what I had actually planned to do with my Saturday, and she knows that I’m a planner by nature.   But Jen was on call at the hospital and an emergency had arisen, my son-in-law was out of town, so the call came in to assist.  This is the girl, no matter what, she is the unflappable one who is that calm presence in the midst of any chaos.


 
And so my unexpected day unfolded by taking Miss M to her ballet recital, then we made cookies afterwards, we just hung out and played, with me sometimes being a referee to their squabbles, but mostly quality time with the grand-angels. And how can you resist those sweet times when the 5 year old comes down from her nap and snuggles up on your lap and we both fall asleep for a bit, or when the 7 year old, Miss N, holds your hand and just wants to have your undivided attention so she can tell you all about her latest adventure.
Jammies on the little ones, snuggled up and reading.
And it’s sort of funny in a strange way, because all my life, even as a kid, I’d have a carefully crafted plan set in my mind of how the day, or event or heck, even my life should turn out.  And then life happens and it rarely followed what I had thought.  Life is so unlike a wheat plant, where it has just one plan, the seed goes in the ground and assuming all conditions are right, it grows relishing the sun and matures into a beautiful stock of wheat with its head filled with ripe plump kernels.  In real life, those unplanned detours that create chaos has taught me is to pull up my “big girl panties” and try to embrace changes as best I can.  To be quite frank it’s been good for me, not easy – but definitely good. Yesterday was a needed distraction for me, as I knew I was missing my favorite Ag conference where most of the nation’s farmers gather for seminars and updates, and also where you get to meet up with your “industry-related friends”.  It’s a part of my past Ag related life that I no longer fit in.  And as with all changes, you adapt and forge a new path.  I still have a true love affair with the Ag industry, and I’ve found a new niche, besides writing my farm related blog, I also have the opportunity where I write for Home and Harvest magazine.  Occasionally I also submit blog posts for the America Farmer’s site. And these efforts are my creative outlets and keep me connected to the Ag industry.

Also on the horizon, if you’ve been reading the blog the last couple of years, one of the things that I’ve been very open and honest is how life on the farm is not picture perfect.  I’ve shared triumphs, tragedies and lessons learned from the highs and lows of life.  Kaitlyn, my other daughter whose life also had some very unexpected twists and turns when at age of 24 married and 10 weeks later suddenly becoming a widow.  Well after a sudden whirl wind romance and brief marriage, she made the wise move to end it. And it’s a decision that not only me, but the rest of us are very thankful for this recent choice. 

Sometimes you have to take a short detour to see that this is not the road you want to travel and that you must plot a new course.  I knew this girl was going to be okay when she said I plan to move Boise and then declared we can have Christmas at my new house! Yup, another “planner” just like her momma.  Together and separately, we both have faced the uncertain and bumpy roads that forced new pathways when the winds of change created road blocks.  We’ve both fared pretty darn well through it all and learned so much along the way. We’ve learned our family is our stronghold, we’ve learned who are true friends are and we know we are resilient and can adapt.

Before I leave you, a quick Ag update …. The Winter wheat is doing beautifully, we had sufficient snow cover when it was brutally cold last December, the snow was able to slowly melt into the ground and we’ve had abundant moisture.  The tender green blades are vivid and thriving.    
As always thank you for stopping by and I love it that you do.  And before I sign off, I wanted to share the saying found on the pillow in Jen’s livingroom:

Yup, words to live by
The other good words to live by that are on the little plaque on my wall says, “Put on a little lipstick, you’ll be fine”.   And for me, it’s  all about living life with guts, glamor and glitter (see more on the “About" page).

Feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email at swheatfarmlife@gmail.com if you have questions, thoughts, comments.  All my best, Gayle