Thoughts on Time

Last night, for the first time ever, the chickens moved up into their coop on their own and went to bed. Until last night, they would sleep in a heap on the ground or I would come out at 9pm and throw them into the coop together (it would be so dark that they wouldn't/couldn't resist the forced relocation). Something finally clicked for them. We're still months away from collecting eggs.

The fruit trees have leafed out a bit, but they're still mainly sticks. We won't harvest fruit for years.

Seedlings take several weeks inside before they're ready to transplant outdoors, then several weeks more before they produce anything worth eating.

Organic methods of lawn care take weeks, months, years to fully blossom into a well-maintained and healthy landscape. You can plant grass seed whenever you want, but if the soil isn't healthy, or the weather is too hot, you'll be wasting a lot of time and money.

There is a lot of "waiting" in this farm/gardening game. It's a period of gradual, yet continual growth towards some specified end point.

Like earning a degree.

Like pregnancy.

Like raising healthy, responsible adults.

Like caramelizing onions (medium heat for 10 minutes...do NOT use HIGH)

You can't "cram" for these kinds of end products. They take time. It's a progressive journey...layers of understanding and experience building on each other. The chicks' instincts kicked in one at a time: social connection, eating bugs, scratching on the ground, eating grass, and finally going "home" to roost every night. The chicks did not come prepared to do all of those adult chicken things at once. It makes sense that they wouldn't, but I kinda thought they would. So here's my point: I feel like several aspects of my life are on the same gradual, yet continual growth that the chicks have demonstrated. My garden, my family, and my personal relationships can not be rushed. I used to be frustrated in how long these things took. Friendships don't pop up for me. Not the ones that last, anyway. Until recently, I thought there was something wrong with me. Well, there ARE several things wrong with me, but now I can see that that's not always the "limiting reagent" in the reactions I'm looking for. Time is excrutiatingly essential. I can't turn a tomato seed into a ripe tomato in less than two months. Kids learn responsible behavior one boundary at a time, one day at a time. My job is to nurture that seed and hold those boundaries until gradually, progressively, my effort produces the end product I have worked towards.

And it's not an unpleasant sort of "waiting." I take great pleasure in sitting on my back patio watching my plants grow and my chickens scratch and my kids play. They are strangely in harmony. My life is moving forward more harmoniously than it ever has before because finally it's all on the same time scale. I can use the same patience and planning skills for each in turn. It's important to pay attention. It's important to keep vigilant and intervene as necessary, but the interventions are rarely huge. Small, progressive changes make the ultimate difference in these time-heavy pursuits. I. Love. That.