I grew up in a farming town. People there mostly grow winter wheat. There were seasons that marked our life there, whether you farmed or not.
- The fall was a time of planting, assessing, and accounting the profits and losses of the year.
- The winter was a mixture of vacation, doing major repairs to equipment, and hoping the deep windy cold is preceded by a little insulation of snow.
- In the spring we watched the rains and the fields with anxious eyes as the wheat grew. Constant estimates about potential harvest yields peppered our conversations.
- As the summer approached we got the machines ready for game time, with last minute major repairs to stretch the work day. Harvest time of around 40 days. Up at 5:15 and to bed by 10:30 to bring the crop in before the rains – with a happy sense of teamwork.
PTU had our harvest time this fall as we developed the preparation course of Let’s Go Together. We created 170 pages of material, 28 videos, and taught 6 classes. After that it was time to slow down.
But then I realized it wasn’t so much a time to slow down, as to settle in: to reconnect with the seasons and natural rhythms of life, with my family, and with the forest lands.
There is a natural temptation for me to tell you all what we are doing at PTU each week. There is lot we are doing, of course, but the message of these updates can sound like more is always what is needed. We are organic creatures, part of a beautiful web of live on this small pebble of a planet. We have rhythms, seasons, and relationships.
As we move toward the solstice and a season of holidays, make sure to take some time to settle in to yourself and those you gather with. Other seasons will come. Enjoy this one. Settle in.
Photo by Abhishek Koli on Unsplash