Fitting Life Into the Time We’re Given
The next few weeks are not possible, at least when observed from the outside. There is not enough time to make it feasible.. The end of summer and the start of autumn are a strong impetus to get moving and have some fun before the winter starts. It is a list that consists of about one month of life folded and stuffed into two weeks.
One item on the list for the last few weeks of summer has to be local celebrations. So many of these celebrations follow the harvest of crops; these are some of the older small-town celebrations that celebrate harvest. This was before city jobs and manufacturing became more prevalent and agriculture was the main occupation in this area, examples would include Potato Days or Bean Days.
If you are a farmer, you don’t need to be told how busy the next few weeks are. During this time farmers will harvest barley, oats, soybeans, corn and sugar beets. There may even be third cuttings of alfalfa still in the field or people who wait till after the first frost to make that third cutting. Sprinkle in some fall cover crop planting along with processing cattle and you have about 50 lb. of activity that needs to fit into a 25 lb. container.
If you woke up this morning and thought that it’s about time for fall sports to begin, then you are a few weeks late. Fall sports have been going full strength for quite a while although most of the activity has happened on a practice field and not a playing field. What we see during friday night lights is only the tip of the iceberg. There is so much work that has gone on before that first volleyball match, football game or cross-country meet.
All of this is a wonderful analogy for a sobering thought, time is short and so very precious. While it is important to stay active and do something with your time, you must also do something valuable. Value is in the eye of the beholder, and it may take the form of business or it may take the form of quiet contemplation. It is a great honor and a heavy responsibility because it is a time you will only get once.
I found great value in writing this column. I enjoy simply writing but this particular column was written using the “talk to text” feature that is part of several office packages. The reason for this is that I was multi-tasking. You see I was also holding our cat, Clifford. He had cuddled up on my lap and forced the laptop far enough away that I could not type. It was a wonderful Sunday morning experience. It also provided enough joy that I couldn’t fit it into my cup; seems about right.
