Life is like a box of chocolates….
Or is that farming? Forest’s general comment about the unpredictability of life rings true especially for farming or in our case homesteading. I don’t think the creators of Forest Gump will mind me borrowing the sentiment. Take horses, for example, one of the most beautiful and "naturally athletic” beasts in God’s creation. The mere mention of them conjures images of these muscled beauties bounding across grassy plains. Thanks to “Spirit; stallion of the cimmaron” one might envision a buckskin stallion charging up a random outcropping to scream a challenge at a flying eagle up above. Let me be the first to ruin these amazing visions shall I? At the very least… Eagles bawk like chickens. Most eagle cry that you hear on screen is actually a red tailed HAWK. Yep, that “eEEEAAAWWKKK” sound that echoes and makes you think think; “OMG it must be an eagle up in the sky!”? Naw, that’s a hawk. They’re common in Western NY. In fact I have a whole family of the dang predators living above my pond but that’s a different story.
Secondly, while it’s undeniable that horses are one of the most stunning animals out there they are also one of the most accident prone. Think, white tailed deer on hooves that we sit on and train etc. if they weren’t simply prone to running through things, breaking things and hurting themselves, their internal systems (read: guts) are made as tough as fords these days. All jokes aside, colic is the number one killer of domestic horses. Essentially: stomach ache. Not only is it the number one killer it’s also not exactly preventable and the causes are numerous! How’s that for well put together? I could go into detail about the different types of colic but I will leave that to the professionals. Horses in this sense are very much so a “box of chocolates” in that you never truly do know what you’re going to get from them each day.
Farming is the same, between weather unpredictability, animal issues, etc. farming is an exercise in “rolling with the punches” so to say, attempting to prevent what’s preventable and allowing what’s not preventable to teach and change you. Some years are wet and nasty, allowing for room to work on and solve drainage problems, others can be windy, snowy, too hot, too cold, etc. money can be tight some years and in abundance for projects needing done others. A farmer’s life can be wrought with anxieties. Ah, but such is the life. My point is, there should be some expectation that not everything in life will always be perfect and in that expectation we can find community and hope. This sentiment seems to be what we’ve lost in people these days. The ability to accept criticism is essential as well as patiently give it. We are all learning, living our best lives and doing the best we can. To judge a book by it’s cover is to lose the pleasure in learning from within. So for this new year I urge you; read the book. Understand that life is not all alike. People fight their demons and journey in many different ways. Embrace it. Hope in it. Rejoice in it. That is community. Life is like a box of chocolates in that all life is unique and in its uniqueness exceptionally special.
