Buddy Sour
Annie & June have been home four weeks now. Four weeks and forever to go. This week they’ve had 24/7 turnout and I’ve seen Annie laying down in the early morning, and I caught June rolling this afternoon. They continue to settle in more and more here which is so satisfying to witness. I’ll begin doing some off-season strength training this week and we’ll spend the next 12 weeks or so finding a rhythm with one another. We really haven’t worked much together since they’ve been here. I lost my job exactly one week after they came home and it has been a bit of a whirlwind in many senses of the word. At first I was very busy catching up on so many things I seemed to never have time for… Now, frankly, things the dust is settling. The things left on my to-do list are either depressing (unpacking all of the boxes from my office) or things that feel very overwhelming. I have always struggled to work alone, I do much better when I have someone to talk things through with. Now that I’m in my thirties I suppose it’s time for me to figure out some methods for effectively working alone. But I was reminded this morning that a team of horses can work more efficiently than two single animals. Then that got me thinking about the story of Adam in the Garden of Eden and why God made him a partner - because he shouldn’t be alone. (Full disclosure: I teased my husband the other day that if God had made Eve first he wouldn’t have had to make Adam at all because she would’ve been perfectly happy with the dogs and the horses and the garden.) Even though two horses are more effective, no one wants to work with a buddy sour animal. And I’m not too proud to admit that I could definitely be considered a buddy sour human. The best teams are the ones that are formidable workers with their own independent strengths, and can dial into each other when they’re working together. I suppose just like horses, it will take a little time to build up my own confidence working by myself. I’m hopeful that as I settle in more at home and get things organized we will have some momentum and good habits to lean on by the time spring planting comes around. I suppose we’ll all be building some different muscle groups this winter.