A Vacation from Everything

I now realize why people take vacations.

Did you know I took a whole week off of making a bed? Somebody made it for me.

Did you know that I didn't cook, unless you consider making coffee in the room once, "cooking."

Did you know that I didn't do a single stitch of laundry last week? I do, and now those who have come to my house in the last 24 hours do, thanks to the piles and baskets and drying racks (i.e., backs of chairs) littering my house.


Now, for those of you who "travel," those of you who have "vacation spots," and those of you who are rolling your eyes at my naive excitement and vacation high, you can read on, smugly, and go enjoy your Mai-Tai in your bed made by a maid.

I'm home now, back to reality, and planning my next trip!

Not really, but I am taking a break at work because of my vacation hangover. I can't focus. Mainly because of the time change...shouldn't I still be in bed? However, I am also just marveling at the fact that all of us, not just me, took a vacation from everything.

We are not folks who travel (please say that in a snooty tone...only because I'm jealous). We have livestock, a livelihood without a lot of disposable income, and are pretty landlocked thanks to four small children. However, by the grace of God, thanks to my parents, the Pacific Ocean, and the magic of Disney, we were able to get away.

And, boy did we need it.

Was the hay done perfectly?
No.

Was the mowing complete on the roadsides?
No.

Were the cattle completely moved to where they should have been?
No.

However, when you're thousands of miles away...WHO CARES?

And now I truly understand the phrase, ignorance is bliss, because it was. While we were still in contact with our lovely neighbors who looked after not only the cattle, but our dog and our fish (but not our plants...please excuse the completely withering foliage otherwise known as geraniums on my porch), it was only a few times. And by a few, I mean twice. Joe didn't even watch but one Cardinals baseball game in the seven days we were gone, and that's HUGE.

We were basically unplugged, as unplugged as one can get when you're needing to document moments like meeting Cinderella for the first time, digging chubby toes into the sand, and enjoying ride after ride after ride, all the while still trying to meet up with the rest of the family in time for dinner via texting. So, unplugged, maybe not so much, but apart from the rest of our world, yes, very much.

From an agricultural perspective, our trip was necessary. A hard summer last year, a challenging fall, and now a wet spring has caused nerves to be fried and distance needed to be placed between ourselves and the farm. It can be trying when one is forced to stare at one's work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Honestly, imagine, those of you with a desk job or even one that you work via the computer. Imagine that screen, that chair, that office, that car, in front of you as you eat dinner, out your window as you watch your kids play, on your way to church. While it is amazing and interesting and fulfilling, it can also SUCK THE LIFE OUT OF YOU.

So, let there be vacations!!! And now that Joe and I have tasted the sweet vacation nectar, I'm going to fight for them a lot harder.

However, for now, I'll just get back to it, make my own bed, eat my crackers and Nutella for lunch, and get back to work, with visions of the beach and Disneyland dancing in my head...