Snow Day!!!

SNOW!!!

During the past few days, the midwest has been enjoying the blessings of a nice winter storm. I heard on WGN radio today that parts of I-80 and I-94 were closed due to complete white-out conditions. Government offices, schools and businesses were closed. People were asked to stay home.

Some have told me that I am a bit masochistic. Yes, I LOVE winter time. Unfortunately, here in the South-West, winters are just not the same. They are typically brown and lifeless. But I digress...

Winter is all about compromise. Lives must go on, regardless of the challenges presented by six inches of snow. Sure, there are meetings and schedules and plans and hopes; and they are all at the mercy of the weather.

So you may have to spend twice the normal time feeding the animals. So you may not be able to leave the farm for a movie or a date. So you may have to spend a few hours getting snow off the driveway. Winter is the season of compromise.

Soon will be my winter of compromises. Just over the little grassy hill lies my future. One that hopefully includes a farm. It is what I want to do. Perhaps, just perhaps I will need to compromise; accept the environment and work with it, not against.

Should I compromise, and accept a farmhouse with rentable land nearby? Should I compromise and accept a house in a small town where I can rent land? Would a large garden plot satisfy my needs; getting closer to the land and at least attempting to live a more sustainable life.

Then I wonder how I will generate an income? This seems like a fairly stable compromise. Work as a programmer until... Until what? Well, hopefully, until my little agricultural venture can pay for itself and my own expenses. But what of compromise? What if I only have a large garden plot that will never be able to financially support me? More compromises.

There is a gray area somewhere between obsession and ambivalence where a fair compromise lies. I am not sure where it is, but it is somewhere.