Good Work

 This is the opening to one of many book ideas that I have.  I don't know if it is my ADHD or just a fear of failure by not being published that makes it that I have half a dozen of these such starts.  None of which are even close to being finished.  There has been a growing trend of farm stories in literature.  Maybe just in the literary circles that I tend to read.  So this was me jumping on that band wagon.  The plan - yes present tense - is to write about how Mel and I created our successful farm.   Since that is essentially what this blog is I figured why not put it here.  I think the title of the book will be called "Good Work" and I want to share the joys of farming, surfing, and finding the one to build a life with. 

When I touch the soil my heart pounds with hope.  When I hold a brand new chick I smile.  When I sit down to a meal that my labor provided I am content.  When I lay my head down at night, after a day of labor and drift quickly to sleep, I am at peace.  All of this is provided by good work.

    It took facing a bad economy without a job and a pile of debt for me to open my eyes.  I was working a job I hated and it was fortunately and unfortunately coming to an end.  Fortunately, because I don’t think I would have survived had it not come to an end.  Unfortunately because it paid good money and it was the only career I had known.  I had no trade.  My job had taken over my life.  I worked long, long hours and it never seemed to make a difference.  My marriage had collapsed and I was going no where fast.  I had over $350k in debt.  This sounds like the story of many Americans.  Sadly it is
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    I met Mel in the summer of 2009.  She was a friend of a friend and our meeting was by chance.  You see Mel does not drink and yet I met her in a bar.  I joke with her that when I tell our children how we met the story will start, “I was the designated driver and I was sitting, talking with friends, and I probably would have never noticed your mother if she hadn’t started dancing on the bar...”  Of course that isn’t how it happened.  A buddy had just gotten out of the Navy and was heading off to pursue his dream of going to graduate school.  The rest of us, three more buddies, were still in the Navy.  One of the guys was my roommate on the ship and it was him who was friends with Mel.  We all went out to celebrate a friend who was leaving the Navy.  Something all of us talked about doing but hadn’t gotten around to.

    “Hey guys this is my friend Mel.”  My roommate said.  She had arrived after we had been there for about 45 minutes.  Mel had been up in LA visiting friends.  She was staying with my ship roommate as her home base for her California trip.  A trip that was almost over.  I have to be honest and say it was her beauty that I noticed first.  I was attracted to her right away.  But it wasn’t love at first sight.  

    “What do you do?’ I asked her.

    ‘I’m a dolphin trainer at Miami Seaquarium.” And right then I became enamored with her. 

    That Friday night didn’t last much longer but we made plans to go surfing on Sunday.  She wanted to learn and I wanted to teach her.