The Water Is Fine

There are dangerous waters and then there are hazardous waters.

I tend to think that a thing is hazardous when it has elements that bring about the potential for danger.  But, with the right training, skill set and planning, hazards can be avoided or overcome, despite the fact that one might say the situation is hazardous.  On the other hand, things become dangerous when you combine hazard with negligence, naivete or exhaustion.

We were entering dangerous waters at the farm.

I'd like to think that it had less to do with negligence or naivete, but rather exhaustion that came about as a result of a wide range of things.  Yes, it was a very difficult growing year with truly exceptional rainfall levels (we did set a rainfall record for the year, for the Fall and for several months).  But, it was also difficult for many other reasons that we will not go into here.  Tammy and I realized we were wearing down, but I do not think we were fully aware of exactly how much.

I am grateful that the two of us recognized that we needed to recharge and I am even more grateful that we have the unique opportunity (with the help of many others) to take the unprecedented (for us) step of taking four weeks off from the farm and our everyday lives.  We are fully aware that not everyone has this sort of opportunity, but rather than apologize for how lucky we are, we will simply say 'thank you' and assure everyone we are doing our best to leave the dangerous waters so we can navigate the hazardous waters.

We have been able to do a fair amount of hiking, photo taking, reading, talking and even some creative writing.  We can share some of the writing and photo taking here and we hope you enjoy some of it at least.

Here's to sailing successfully through the hazardous waters.