Long hours, Hot sun

It has been a little while since I posted last! For those who don't know, I am a farmer of sorts. One of my family's small businesses is a plant nursery which specializes in growing tomato plants, culinary herbs, vegetables and "cottage garden" annuals and perennials. This time of year is especially busy, and I often find myself at the greenhouses from before sun up to late into the evening. Now, the heatwave is forcing me indoors for longer moments during the day, which is both worrisome and welcome.

Does it seem strange that a writer is also a small business person and a farmer? To me they all go naturally together. Being out in nature and working with plants (and animals) requires planning, hard work, fast decision making, prioritization, and mental sharpness. It also requires a tenderness, a careful touch, an observant eye, and an open heart. In farming a small thing can become a huge issue if ignored or unnoticed. A wrinkly leaf, a brown spot, a leaning stem, a tinge of yellow on a leaf all tell a story to the eye of a nursery planter. An outside observer might never notice those small things, but those are precisely the things a farmer must notice. That touch of yellow may be a hungry plant, or an abundance of the wrong minerals in the soil. That wrinkly leaf may be the first hint of an aphid invasion that could wipe out your peppers. The leaning stem may indicate too much water retention causing a plant stalk to rot just below the surface. When the little things are exposed for what they could be, the mind can see why something so small is important.

It is the same with writing. I am telling a story, but it is about a place only I have been to before. I am the chronicler of the tale, and I have an obligation to my readers to not overlook the little things. Those little things, in my experience, hold weight and are just as important to the telling of a story as disease and parasite information are to a farmer. The focus of one is very much like the focus of the other. It also helps that I have a great deal of experience with what I write about through personal experiences, life encounters, and constant observation. Writing isn't a hobby to me. It is a profession that requires honesty, practice, and close attention to the details. The big and the small.

As we embark into a furiously hot week here in the USA, stay cool. Stay hydrated. Settle in and read a good story. And remember, I am hard at work at all my businesses. With any luck I will have a new sequel by early next year!