Zach and I have a goal this year to simplify our lives. We have this beautiful farm, and many times we're so busy trying to work every available aspect of it, we forget to enjoy it.
So that might mean that we won't plant a cornfield this year, or maybe we'll have only a few pumpkin plants as opposed to a huge field.
And maybe we won't have as much to show for this summer but so far I'm enjoying it.
Frankly, the past five springs have been nuts! And have little resemblance to the "simplified" life we had in mind when we bought this farm. And I realize that this comes with the territory. That simple doesn't always mean easy.
When you have a farm and a full time job as Zach does, the weekends rarely serve as a relaxing chance to recuperate from the work week. I do the best I can throughout the week of maintaining things, but there are some things I just don't feel comfortable doing by myself.
Saturday and Sunday are the days for catchup on all the farm things we couldn't get done after work. Time for big projects that require big chunks of the day, running errands, stocking up on feed and supplies etc. etc. etc.
And while we will always have our fair share of these sort of weekends, we're trying to keep a promise to each other that on Sunday nights, we take a little time and just...be.
It might be sitting around a small bon fire while I play the fiddle, watching the sunset at our picnic table while the goats graze or taking a leisurely walk around the property with the dog.
Lately it's been fishing.
After the Sunday chores are complete, and the sun starts heading west, we gather our poles and tackle boxes and take off for the water.
Zach is more diligent about that actual action of fishing. Honestly, I get so excited about capturing it all with my camera that usually my pole gets abandon and I end up wandering off after a bumble bee or an interesting leaf or something.
But I do love tackle. I love all the interesting bits and bops, the tactile pleasure of the rubber worms and the shiny hooks and lures. I love my little collection of useful items like my knife, measuring tape and fish guide book.
I used to have an army green backpack as a kid that I would carry everywhere. It held my collections of important things. A leather ring with a spider encapsulated in glass, my diary, a small wooden box of colored pencils, a metal turtle button, empty pickle jars for collecting things like bugs, or strange seed pods, and a key ring of all the dogs tags of every dog I'd ever had. I carried that bag everywhere I went, especially out into the woods.
For some reason, my tackle box reminds me of that bag. A little collection of oddities that I carry out into nature and take pleasure in the simple fact of having them with me. The excitement of catching a fish is just a bonus.
We've gone fishing 4 or 5 times this spring. Got a few nibbles, and caught only one tiny sunfish. But that's ok.
Fishing, if anything, serves as an excuse...a promise...a weekly routine to spend some time in nature, with the man I love, listening to the sound of ducks, filling our lungs with the musky smell of the water and consciously making memories.
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