Dear Farm Journal,

I love the unscheduled nature of winter.  After the holidays passed, Joy and I found ourselves wondering out loud what day it was.  This is a rather common occurrence during the deep winter when schedules consist of a few outside chores and a little running around but mostly are a whatever you want to do kind of thing.  There are of course tasks which need to be taken care of, garden planning, growing meetings, building projects, and we tackle these tasks as they come, but we also do sleep in, or go to sleep late.  I especially like sleeping in, or rather laying in bed staring out the window as the sun slowly creeps into the morning sky. I feel as if both the sun and I take the similar path of a slow riser. Oh sure, we will get there, just five more minutes.  But you know what I think this is what winter is all about. We bust our ass all spring, summer and fall and dammit we deserve these peaceful moments of no demands. Frankly, I believe we all deserve these moments. I know I said it before but it bares repeating. This life of living with the seasons agrees with me.  I came the closest I have ever come to reimagine my life and going out into the world to get that real job, but I just can’t do it yet. Despite being monetarily poor, I just can’t give up this life of living by the seasons. I can’t imagine having to adhere to some human imposed schedule day after day after day. I feel like I would lose track of days all the same because each day would look not unlike the day before but I would also lose track of myself.  I would become this drone living out the same damn day. So I hold onto the idea that one of these years I will truly figure it out, I will figure out not only how I can live my most ideal life but that I will also make money doing it. I don’t know if this is an illusion, but I do feel like this could be the year we really turn the corner. For one thing, at least for this season I feel like I will have a real true partner. Having someone like Joy on my side and fully invested in this season already makes it feel different. Having someone taking care of greenhouse prep, leaves me to take care of greenhouse maintenance and building. In this mathematical equation 1 + 1 = more than two.  Plus she takes my wishy washy Cancer flow wherever the current of my mind takes me down about 20%. On top of it all, she just loves being organized. Can someone pinch me? Am I still slumbering in my bed? Nope this is our life or at least 2019, we will give it our best college try. We will do our damndest to keep those real world jobs with their morning meetings, corporate rules, excessive desk times, and more of the same far away. Maybe someday we will have to face the music. We will have to fall into step…..just not yet! There is too much to do right here, there are too many sunrises to witness from the comfy confines of the blanket cocoon.

~Joy