Sabbatical

A series of events and adventures led me to the decision that it would be wise to take a sabbatical this summer prior to the start of school next week. So in June, I packed my bags (and a lot of boxes) and moved most of my stuff into storage. I then stuffed the rest of my things and myself into my Elegant Driver and headed home to the farm. While I've spent a considerable amount of the past two months fluttering about camping, hiking, visiting family and friends, and learning at a Summer Institute on the Resilience of Adolescence (it was fascinating, in case you were curious), I also spent a considerable amount of time on the farm.

After working in the field of public health, a field that I absolutely love, I find the one draw back is results of public health work often are measurable in the long term and are not always immediately observed. Thus, I find there is something perfectly wonderful about manual labor, as it is complete with an instant gratification of seeing a job well-done through to completion. This summer, my brother Matt married Monica, my dearest, new, sister-in-law, on the family farm. Prior to this wonderful occasion, the farm required a bit of prep work. Consistent with most large events/parties/celebrations, whether held in your office, home, garage, or shed, these events provide a very helpful impetus for cleaning up, organizing, neatening, etc.

While, I did a lot more than just work around the farm this summer, the sabbatical provided me with the opportunity to help out with a variety of projects that in some way helped the farm get ready for the big day. Likewise, these projects also are great to just have done for the whole health of the farm.

For example: weeding the wildflowers will allow them to have a better chance to lay down great roots to be able to come back and flourish next year. Helping my dad, my great uncle Ted, and Monica load over 6,000 pounds of scrap metal from the shed (the shed that was transformed into the wedding hall) allowed that much metal to be recycled and to no longer be cluttering up the machine shed. Collecting a large quantity of old rusty nails from the cattle lot cement with a magnet and pounding in sharp metal poles, will decrease the likelihood of a rusty metal injury. Shoveling gravel and rock, will mean landscaping is COMPLETE, forever (hopefully?)!

Clearly the tasks varied, but most all had a long term purpose and gave visible results of the considerable effort by my every muscle. These tasks all meant I got to spend tons of time outside and spend tons of time with my parents and family, which are fabulous things.

Now, my sabbatical is coming to a close. I've moved to the big city, am settling in, and have orientation under my belt. I still have not missed a bus yet, but I've calculated routes quite poorly tripling the time to get home, and I did not realize how to get out the back door of the bus and missed my stop. These bus errors helped me learn how to avoid these errors in the future, but both made me wonder if I was ridiculous to think I could take on a PhD program in nursing. However, a few more bus trips later, I'm feeling much more confident in both my bus riding skills, and my ability to begin the PhD program! I'm growing my ability to ride my bike where there is traffic. Even still, there is still much to discover and learn about living in the city, but I will always be a country girl!