My appreciation
for the farmers that I know has always been huge. I have enjoyed a couple of
years of their wisdom, kindness and humor, along with their wonderful food. Now
my admiration continues to grow.
Ryan, my
husband, has been laid off for the second time in two years. We are three
months into this one, and the company gave no notice or severance. The first
lasted six months, and we had the added expense of a mortgage for the home in
Florida that we were trying to sell. Add the loss of my regular income from
part-time work last fall, and it becomes even clearer that “financial cushion”
is not part of our vocabulary.
An immeasurable
amount of good has come from these layoffs and we would not trade them for
anything. We are some of the most truly free people I know, because “stuff” no
longer calls me, and Ryan is almost free. Our priorities regarding “stuff”
involve paying the bills and having healthy food to eat.
We are making
it on our own financially by piecing work together. Even so, people have been
so generous to us. Our veggie CSA farmer puts extra into our box and has told
us to ask for whatever we need. This week our beef farmers asked how Ryan’s job
search was coming, and I told them no job yet. Their response was to try and
give us free beef, which I refused because we are making it on our own. Regardless,
we are supposed to ask if we need meat because they know what it is like to go
through tough times and they want to help.
If you haven’t
made time to get out to your local farmers market and you are looking for one
more reason to get moving, it is this: the farmers are wonderful, caring,
supportive, uplifting, wise people. Who wouldn’t benefit from knowing them?
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