Kind of and Sort of Caught Up

It’s the middle of December, Christmas is nearly here, and I finally feel like I am sort of, kind of, caught up. I have decided in agriculture, at least my version of agriculture, sort of, kind of, caught up is about as good as it gets. I am never truly caught up, there are always projects and things that should be done, but for right now I have all the “have to” things checked off my list and that is a huge relief.

This fall was made extra challenging because we moved in August. We are finally settled and settling into our new routines at the new place and it is as good as I had hoped for. Life is so much easier without a commute between farms. Do I get more done in a day? I would like to believe so, but the truth probably is that I do not, I am just not spending as much time on the road each day and that makes my time feel more productive.

Yes, we are moved and most of the boxes are unpacked and if we were going to be totally honest we would probably get rid of the boxes that are not unpacked. If we have not used it up to this point, it is probably not important, and we probably won’t miss it. However, it is that probably that keeps me from having a mass purge. There are still several things I have not found yet. What worries me more is the possibility of several more things I am missing that I have not realized yet that I am missing. And to think that my family accuses me of being a packrat and a hoarder.

Coupled with the move was the fact that this fall seemed to be the never-ending harvest. Don’t get me wrong this was the most problem free harvest from and equipment standpoint that I have ever went through. The problem was with crops that would not dry down and weather that would not allow us to get good long days in. The day we could start before noon was rare, most of harvest was spent waiting on the dew to dry and the fog to clear.

Eventually we did push through and get everything harvested. Then it was time to bring the cows home but before we could do that I had to get my sheep pens built at the new place. I had “temporarily” moved the sheep into our cattle lots. Then came harvest and soon I realized that if I was going to bring the cows home from pasture I had to move the sheep out of their pens. Sheep pen building and cattle moving happened simultaneously. I would like to say that we coordinated things like a well-oiled machine. The reality was that it all happened despite my lack of focus and organization.

Eventually the cows all came home, and the sheep were settled into their new, shiny, better than ever pens, maybe a couple of weeks later than I would have liked, but in the end, it all got done. The next thing up was weaning calves and that was a lot closer to Thanksgiving than I would like to have admitted. Again, I guess this is one of those years I was not going for style points because in the end it got done. Not the way I would have liked it too, but it is another on the long list that was checked off.

The final barrier between being behind and sort of, kind of caught up was to get the cows out on the cornstalks. We were only a month away from “ideal” but let’s face it, ideal is one of those concepts that look better on paper and seldom happens in the real world. However, this past weekend, we opened the gate and let the cows out on the cornstalks and declared ourselves sort of, kind of caught up.

The temptation, and I often fall victim to temptation, is to take a deep breath, relax and enjoy not being behind. I have a long list of things that need to be done this winter and another long list of things I would like to get done this winter. The top of that list is to finish the sheep facility construction ahead of the impending lambing season. No sweat, I have a whole month, no wait make that two weeks, what do you mean we have lambs. Yes, this week I had my first set of lambs so after a grand total of three days of being sort of, kind of caught up, I am once again behind.

Two things occurred to me. One is that I work much more efficiently when under stress. However, the most important realization I came to about not being caught up or, heaven forbid, ahead of things, was simple. I will live forever because I don’t have time to die until I am caught up on all my work. I guess that is why farmers live forever our work is never done.