Is anyone else wondering how it’s November already? I seem to say that a lot as the years just somehow keep turning over. It seems to become a stronger feeling as the season changes to colder weather and the holidays somehow sneak up on the calendar. Isn’t there a saying that the sands of time fall differently as you age?
The passage of time definitely puts into perspective what is most important in life and can make you analyze where you should prioritize the precious time we are given. I know as a dairy farmer that is all too often easier said than done.
But I also know that we all hold in our hearts dreams and a bucket list that is unique to each one of us. It might not be the grandiose calls to travel the world or become a billionaire — we picked the wrong career for that, even if this lifestyle offers billions of simply amazing paybacks in other ways.
Maybe it’s a special project you want to complete on the farm, or possibly a goal that’s so far out there it feels like reaching for the stars. Maybe it is simply making time for those things off the farm like a hobby or travel.
In the everyday hustle of farming, it can feel unattainable or even silly to chase those dreams. We might be taking the smallest simplest of steps each day: throwing some spare change in a jar, learning a new skill that can finish the job, or simply laying out a rough draft plan. That is all valuable, well-spent time chasing our dreams.
We have one life to live, and those bucket lists deserve check marks next to them.
The author is a third-generation dairy farmer from Oregon where she farms in partnership with her husband and parents. As a mother of young sons who round out the family-run operation as micro managers, Darleen blogs about the three generations of her family working together at Guernsey Dairy Mama. Abiqua Acres Mann's Guernsey Dairy is currently home to 90 registered Guernseys and transitioned to a robotic milking system in 2017.