Work is good for the soul.

I have always enjoyed a day of hard work when the accomplishments are personal. These days my work consists of getting kids on the bus for school, ensuring that the two year old doesn't redecorate the brand new house yet and keeping the laundry from running amuck. Most days I don't stop at the end of the day and consider my accomplishments. Today however, I was able to appreciate the time spent at the sink doing dishes and was lucky enough to assist my husband in our continual quest to fence our new 10 acre property. While most of the true physical work was done by my other half, mine consisted mostly of chasing that outdoor boy across the pasture while still trying to provide the right tool at the right time.

The idea of cooking on a wood burning stove without the benefit of a computer chip to control the temperature does not begin to hold my fancy, I try to imagine what it was like to live in a time when almost all work required being outside for some reason or another. Is that why we have lost so much value in nature and wildlife? That we have been indoors in our self created bubbles so long that we have come to dislike the fresh air and the scents of the countryside? I have better come to accept and appreciate the scent of a skunk (so long as it isn't my dog that is wafting that smell) and the smell of hay that has laid in the field too long when it rains. I expect that one day when my three young children are grown I will have an opportunity to explain to my grandchildren why I love these smells.

To each of you I offer the challenge of getting outside and enjoying the beauty of nature.

Blessings and peace to you all.