a break and a brake

You can set hefty goals for yourself and you can work hard to achieve them, all in a timely fashion, but the fact is, you'll never have total control over the outcome. Stuff happens.

I thought about this today as Ed and I rushed to be done with morning chores so that we could go out and plant more trees. It was drizzling lightly and everything was lush and green and wonderful, but also wet and soggy and muddy. 

Breakfast on the porch. Leisurely, because of the drizzle. And then, unexpectedly, the drizzle stops.

Leisurely breakfast comes to a fast end. I grab a half dozen hickories and a couple of maples to plant and settle into a morning of filling holes with dirt and breaking up chunks of clay. This is when I hear Ed calling from across the field. He needs help. The tractor-mower is not spinning its rear wheel so we have to half push half drive the machine out of a ditch and up to the courtyard. I do the steering, Ed does the pushing. He is a strong guy, but that is one heavy piece of equipment. He's fiercely panting as we maneuver it up the incline.

He does a quick inspection and concludes it cannot be fixed. Not easily and cheaply. And we cannot continue with the tree planting without its help. So off he goes to search Craigslist for another tractor mower -- one that works, while I continue to put trees in holes, and to clear beds and do all that stuff that is still part of my game plan for this growing season.

Ed has found a used machine that will be here tomorrow. Me, I'm about to grab something resembling lunch when my eyes fall on the rhubarb growing at the side of the walkway. The people who used to farm here planted it and though I myself would not have put it so close to the front door, it's there and it produces a hefty amount of stalks right about now. In other words -- I realize that I really need to do something with that rhubarb! 

I break for a pep talk with my friends. Sometimes what you need is a bit of distance from whatever it is that's filling your day. 

 

And then I get to it. No more planting. I'm in the kitchen baking rhubarb cake and sauteing crunchy chicken for the young family's Sunday dinner at the farmhouse. I mean, could a meal be more homey than that?

The family's here! The kids spend a few mins outside. Stuff to explore, asparagus to pick.

(Dinner)

And so the day disappears behind May clouds. And honestly, we did get a lot done. Not exactly according to plan and perhaps not in the way that we intended, but still, it's been a lovely day, full of interesting twists and sweet moments. And the birds sang and more flowers joined the parade of blooms.

I can only wonder what the week before us will bring!