he's been trying to quit pratt for years, because it's not where his heart is. but there was always a reason why he could not do it. the first time he quit, we found out that i was pregnant with sena the day after he handed in his resignation letter; he decided to speak to his boss and told him that things had changed and he'd like to stay. his boss said OK (despite not wanting to be there, ed always works hard, and he just has a really good work ethic in general, so his bosses and colleagues love him).
even after that incident, he's been trying to get away, get into something else, because he felt that his work was not meaningful, and ultimately it was not making him (or the rest of us, let me tell you) happy. sometimes, he'd get so down about it, that he'd be in physical pain with headaches, backaches, etc.
about a month ago, when he heard that layoffs were coming, we talked about it, and he asked his boss if he can volunteer to be on the list. his boss was sad to lose him, but he obliged, and now it's done.
i have to admit that although i knew it was coming, i'm a bit freaked out. just because it's so unusual - nobody i know has ever asked to be laid off. but on the other hand i'm also excited and i feel that this change is a positive one for us. ed's a really hard worker, and i'm sure that if he wanted to go back to Pratt or work as a contractor, he could do it, w/o too much trouble. his bosses already hinted at this.
more importantly though, i feel that now we're giving our farming business a chance. it was hard to do much when he was working full time, and i had the kids and the house. now, he's going to be devoting most of his time and energy to the farm, which should make a huge difference. also, i'm happy that he'll be around the kids more, and he is too. sena was so excited when he told her that he'll be home! obviously, financially we'll be in worse shape than before. with his salary at pratt, there's no way our farm will be bringing in anything of that order, any time soon. but we've been saving for a while, and we don't have any debt, and our lifestyle is very simple, so we don't need a huge income. as far as the farm, we don't expect to make any money this year, or even next year. hopefully the year after that we'll make enough to be sustainable.
my view is that we're not into farming for the money (ed and i both agree on this). i feel that we're doing it because it's what we want to do, it feels good and it brings us satisfaction. i also feel that farming allows us to contribute positively to the well being of our community, and the well being of the earth. i feel that once you have this foundation, the money will come.
so it's all very new and exciting, and there's a lot of insecurity too, but i feel kind of proud that we finally let go of "working for The Man", or "The System", or whatever you want to call it, and are doing the things that really matter to us....
so right now, i'm putting all my love an energy into this....
anyway, here's some of our stuff:
summer squash
one half of our field, with kale in the foreground
sugar snap peas...yum!
tomatoes
onions
potatoes
peace
1 comment:
The fields look incredible. I didn't realize how much you had. I'm sure everything will turn out the way you want it.
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