A different story over again

Writing this column every week starts by picking a thought. There’s, so far, never been a problem coming up with one that provokes at least as much length as this format allows. There is no shortage of stories, facts, figures, and close calls in my own life experience to write these possibly forever, or at least the practical equivalent.

This is one half of my weekly paradox.

On the other side is the fact that even though there is infinite material, there is also always more to say on the chosen topic. Reading back over my weekly ramblings that have turned into a pretty decent pile of work, there’s some thoughts that are very similar and seem to keep coming back up. Since I’m completely certain there is more than enough adventures in agriculture to not need to cover the same ground more than once, it made me wonder why I drive back over certain pieces of ground.

And there’s the thought that began today’s thunk. Agriculture is a life that never gives up trying to come up with new crises to beat, but it is on tight schedule and there are old-standbys that it always seems to bring into play over and over again. It’s a conundrum, because it’s easy to see that no two days are the same on the ranch or on the farm. Thus, variety is part of the definition. But it’s also cyclic by nature. It sounds like it should only be possible to be one or the other. Yet, somehow, it must. The fact of the matter is, agriculture somehow manages to be both.

I’m here to give you a taste of life in agriculture, and it’ll always start on a different thought. But, just as the patter of life in ag is both new and yet familiar, some thoughts may be closer to others even when they do originate in a brain that generally operates on high-quality chaos.

With that, I think I’ll leave you on a philosophical note.

You can plow the same field, year after year, but you’ll never turn over the same exact ground again.

The first time you think a thought is like planting a seed. It grows and it’s harvested when you speak (but it’s also like alfalfa, growing and harvesting take turns and repeat.)

Audra Brown hopes you enjoyed this the thoughts harvested this week. Contact her at: [email protected]