...And sometimes we just play ping pong in late October
Have you ever trained for a marathon? How long does it take? How long do they have to maintain the focus and motivation required to pull it off? Because it seems like my focus fades sometime in October every year. Not that farming is exactly like training for a marathon, but it is a bit similar, if not quite as cardiovascular. We begin in December with intense planning and in January, we set off on the journey of implementing that plan. By the early March, we’re full throttle and fully immersed in the plan. After that we barely look up to see where we are in the plan. Breathing hard, we just put one foot in front of the other. Until sometime in late October when our focus blurs.
I suppose it’s the finish line at the end of our tunnel vision, but we’ve got no capacity for an increase in intensity. Instead, we stumble. Last week, I missed three turns in one day and forgot half of the produce for market at the farm. Maybe this doesn’t sound unusual, but those three turns were turns I take every Wednesday for 8 months of every year for the past twelve years! Huh? What can I say except I guess I lost my focus. I must have been daydreaming about feet up in front of the wood stove, or Dominican vacations, or even Thanksgiving turkey. Sigh. I’d better get it back together so I can cross that December finish line with a strong finish.
