Meanwhile...This Farm Progress Report

     As my spring gardening season comes to a close (I have only sweet potatoes to pull; a task I've learned from Thurman, you do (first proper sign) before the first frost, which means it's coming)...Meanwhile, the overgrown garden outside my door is metaphor for the overgrown patterns inside my life, home and mind, stemming from books now in full swing, planned projects stepping up their pace, and of course, a barn that is slated to be done before the cold sets in (after all, we have goat babies on the way and some big headed dogs that long to romp in and out of its doors).

      And speaking of doors, the doors were this week's first signs of life (post the posts going in!)...Because we're creating them from scratch, from the same woods we'll be using for the barn's exterior (not purchasing them pre-made), my contractor and lead carpenter savored the task of hunkering down and spending a day sawing and putting the first of many creative elements together...towards the birthing of my new (old)  barn.
     A parallel to my own life, we shared how sometimes the paperwork and busy-ness of business consumes so much from an artist, that the soul longs to get past the technicalities, and throw yourself whole heartedly back into the work you set out to create in the first place. Seems the ultimate challenge for all artists I know, and even those who might not consider themselves artists, but are just that: masters of their craft, be it the accountant with a yin for numbers, that dentist with a gift for gentle, or that doctor with a touch for healing--Artists all in my book...doing that thing God put them on this planet to do. And of course, this would extend to farmers and wood workers alike.)
     With a week full of too much busy-ness and not enough "hands on" my guys were, like me, eager to recalibrate their creative energies by getting back to the tasks that brought us to the dance in the first place (in my case, cookbook layouts; in theirs, barn doors, crafted by hand).
     All in all, a good way to end a perfect week.
     May we never let the details of life override the reasons why we started a business in the first place...(Something I ponder quite often, and have discovered others who run their own shops, struggle with as well.)
     At the end of the day, it's all about creating...It's all about finding your bliss.
     (Here's to the guys whose bliss lies in crafting hand made barn doors~ Are we blessed or what?)