Life needs a big plan. Then it is just a matter of small investments, optimism, some courage and good timing - possibly some luck. I would call it direction of travel though with a bit of vision. There is no better time to make a plan than today and its fun after all. Hoping is living. We must not get lost.
The world loves to make plans for us, take away our autonomy, treat as part of a herd, get us distracted and ultimately wear us out. Or we can own our results and get over ourselves and get our hands dirty. We volunteer for this madness with every consumer act we engage in and every magazine we stare at So find a small corner, find some space and find some peace. And plant what you may. Often and with care. I do have a point so bear with me,
We are here today and it really shouldn't always be jam tomorrow. Yes I am retiring - at least for a bit - to focus on nothing of any commercial value at all. I really do want the biggest problem tomorrow to be which bed had the brassicas last year and should we rotate ? Thats enough for now. Its time to get busy living as the man Dufrane says.
I planted tulips in January - encouraged by Jane. I bought some big pots with a bit of spare cash because I thought a bit of formality in the path plan and some of its lines would be good. It was an afternoon to plant them up. Some grit, some cold hands, a very satisfying small job. I am so glad of those tulips today because they remind me that it must be about holding to the vision and planting for tomorrow As things stand I am processing my early retirement but my tulips are there to remind me what is of value for the longest term. I have 10,000 plans, ideas, pictures in my head.
Making something beautiful is an end in itself. These are Jane's tulips and very beautiful they are too.
The act of laying out, choosing, seeing and waiting has to be one of the most satisfying things. The Sweat Peas have gone in. I will time a visit from `Dubai where I am seeing out some notice and some odds and ends to see these sweet peas in mid-Summer.
Blue Ripple and Aphrodite on one rough wigwam. Small acts with big returns will compound. It never ceases to amaze me what we can do with an afternoon.
On a far larger scale Jane and I bought the place a few years back and I now know I will be home for good in a year from the Middle East. I have time this year to make some more plans and travel and to step away from work for a while. I am about ready for Jam tomorrow after being in the same job for almost 29 years.
It is never the right time and we never save enough but the world is a flexible place these days with work and really much of what makes us happy costs very little. As long as we have heat, friends, food, love, laughter and the odd glass of wine it will be all be OK. Sehr Gudt. Its time to come home soon.
I have a new philosophy which is a bit morbid but I got set on the 100 days idea and the actual mapping of the rest of my life as 100 x 100 days. That takes me to around 80. After that I will happily not count. As life speeds up I will try and slow down. In 100 days you can achieve a huge amount. You need to be very intentional and mindful over results. Big dreams and small acts. A good schedule and some choices about where to invest those few days and not to take on too much. Maybe bees will two lots of 100 to get up and running - a goat, pigs and chicken at the same time will be chaos. Enough, and well and with planning.
I am happy to waste time if I need a rest - I have a burning desire to just be "now" for a while. Within my 10,000 days - 100 x 100. All of a sudden the concept has very really bite and reality. I may allow myself to re-start the clock - I had only done one cycle to take me to Xmas and a great Xmas it was too. The 10,000 days is a good concept. It's a third of lifetime which is what I have left - I hope. Time to get fitter ! Treating each day as a perfect gift now is a very good attitude to have. Adapt and double down. Re-read Walden Pond and sharpen my chainsaw. Plant some more sweet peas.
I am in love with this book - The New Homesteader by Nick Ivins. With a Porto Tonico and time to be inspired it has struck a nerve. Everything on the plot should both serve a purpose and be beautiful. We will try our best. Now I have more time I can can take more care and slow down. It hasn't sunk in yet. It will take some time to realise I am "home" mentally.
Dream big and act small. A small step at a time for thirty years will get you anywhere in life. Apply that for another 30 years and I expect Jane and I can make something very special and have something of real beauty and value to show and share. That may seem selfish and quite introspective but the land will be "farmed" for nature as well as food - Its everything to Jane in terms of a pallet for her interest in planting and plants. I found myself welcoming a Blackcap in full voice last week - You are most welcome I bellowed. like a nutter in a fleece without another friend to talk to. But I was happy and so was the bird. We are going to be entirely eccentric in the best tradition of the word. Most children these days would not know a blackcap from a chiff chaff. How poor we have become as we have grown so better off. Half of children cannot identify a stinging nettle. There is something I could help people with now I have time,
I had a bad bout of depression during Covid when trapped overseas during lockdown and separated from Oaklands and Jane and the boys. Sufficient to have me on tablets and in counselling for a year. Some days I could not get out of bed but I would claw for my phone to deal with the anxiety of what email I might not have answered for work. No-one asks us to be that way but we are judged if we fall short of some quite brutal standards these days. Much of it is self imposed. I wish I had got out before the lock down in 2020 - I now have the time given back to me with spades so it is really time to stop that whining record and get on.
Here today and Jam tomorrow. I now have 10,000 days. Thats a gift I believe I have earned. I am lucky but we make our own luck. I hope I won't be commuting in two years disillusioned of the good life or short of cash. I don't think so. I think we can imagine a better way between Jane and I. I will start the clock tomorrow as I think my departure is being announced publicly today. I have a sense of disbelief but I think the tulips knew it was time - the timing was impeccable.
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