Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Fishing for Answers

Fishing for Answers

 

I’ve tried to write this post for the past month. I bet I’ve wrote out
the first paragraph 10 times, only to delete it and give up.  I think
the season just leaves all of us mentally and physically drained. We put in so much time and effort into running the festival, there isn’t much left to run on after it’s over. I’ve felt uninspired, perhaps downright depressed. 

 

Mason (my three year old son) decided he wanted to learn how to fish this week. His older cousin was at our pond fishing several days ago and Mason was instantly fascinated. Neither Robert nor I are fishers. We have both fished on occasion, but with no serious effort involved. Mason, on the other hand, is a serious fisherman. 



We bought him an appropriately sized fishing pole and he was off. After some serious casting fails, along with several three year old meltdowns, I’m now proud to say that he can cast like a pro. He doesn’t know we took the hook off the line when it was evident he was going to catch himself or the dog.   He’s happy as a clam to stand on the dock, and cast away to his little hearts content. 

 


In the midst of Mason’s fishing adventures, I received some very bad and unexpected news from one of our suppliers (in the tune of a $10,000 unexpected bill). It feels like every time we get one step ahead, we take three steps backwards. 

 

After the season is over, I think we all try to fill our schedule with fun non-farm related things to keep us going. Jen shows her horses, I’m showing a friend’s horse this summer, and we all enjoy camping. Robert enjoys hunting and college sports. Nic likes to play golf. And all the while, it feels like we are being dragged down with bad news about the business. 

 

It’s almost come to the point where we are trying to decide if we put our personal lives on hold and discontinue our fun activities to keep the farm going. We keep thinking it can’t possibly get any worse. It has to get better.  We all work at our “regular” jobs everyday to pay our bills and hopefully do a few fun things every now and then. We all work very hard for those fun moments. Are we just fishing without a hook?




2 comments:

  1. I have enjoyed your Maple Syrup Festival for several years. It is my time for a drive in the country, a great waffle breakfast and stocking up on maple syrup. Know that your efforts are greatly appreciated and I hope that you will continue in spite of your setbacks. Enjoy the off season! Love the blog too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hope this year's festival is as great a success as last year's! We have been buying your syrup for umpteen years. We are praying for your success. It is a wonderful thing you are doing, trying to keep the family together and the farm going. We are pulling for you!

    ReplyDelete

Please let me know if you like the blog!