2026!
This is the year where I will finally… Who am I kidding? This year I’ll get a couple things right for the first time, and I’ll find creative new ways to get a bunch of other things wrong. It’s what I do. It’s what we all do, right?
Having said that, this year is suiting up to be kinda different for my family. After 20 years of running an electrical contracting business together, hubby and I have decided we are never going to win at this game, and it’s time to pack it up and get real jobs. Don’t get me wrong, together with a lot of hard work, a few lucky breaks, and many, many angst filled days of white-knuckled determination, God’s grace has enabled us to support ourselves and a handful of employees for 20 years. He has helped us walk our three kids across the threshold of adulthood and made it possible for us to help them through school and several well (and a few ill)-conceived adventures. But here we are in our fifties, starting over in many ways. We have sunk most of what we are worth into the company, so retirement is nowhere near the horizon. It’s time to figure out plan B. Suddenly, I have to figure out what I want to be when I grow up. At our age, we aren’t exactly blank slates. Hubby is a giant and a genius. He’s a big guy that people instinctively like and follow, even though he’s an introvert who would generally prefer to be left alone. He’s also insanely smart. He is a master electrician so he’s mechanical. He has taken lead on renovating each of the houses we have owned over the years. He can build or fix about anything. He will troubleshoot and fix a massive system of machines when the manufacturer can’t figure out what’s wrong. He’s crazy good at that kind of thing, but he is also just plain smart. He can read a book and just remember it, not word for word, but he processes and stores information like no one I have ever met. So this is Richard – smart, strong, technical.
And then there’s me. I’m not saying I’m an idiot. I’m smart-ish. I at least like learning and am willing to work at it. But I do have to work for it. And even when I do learn stuff, I can forget it or confuse stuff. But I make up for my lack of genius by working hard. For the last three years we have lived on a little piece of acreage that I have tried to turn into some kind of farm. I planted apple trees, 101 of them. I got chickens – currently about 50 layers. I grew a big garden outside and microgreens inside. I am hoping to add crocuses – the kind that produce saffron. I’m always trying new stuff. I had bees. I love them but lost both hives in two years. I’d like to take another run at them though. Bees are super cool. I just like being around them, the hum is weirdly calming.
Regardless, calling our acreage a farm, or me a farmer, is a stretch. Calling me a philosopher is a stretch too, but that’s what I got my BA studying. I love philosophy, especially as it explores metaphysics and religion. I use it as I study and teach the Bible and as I pursue the adventure that is life. And of course, I have spent the last 20 years learning to run a contracting business. So I have 20 year’s experience in bookkeeping, human resources management, staff training, health and safety program development and implementation, customer and supplier communication…you get it. The list goes on but it’s long and boring.
So here we are. 2026 and the rest of our lives await. I thought maybe I would record our journey, maybe share it as I go. Jan 1, day 1, was fun. It’s a holiday so we relished denial. We don’t have a company that is bleeding out, a house we can’t afford and no apparent future. It’s a holiday, so we pretended none of that exists and went for a hike…in Algonquin, Canada in January in -15C (5F) weather. It was cold, but it was beautiful.
Tomorrow? Jan 2, we have to be up at 5:30. We will beat the sun out of bed and re-enter reality before we can see the tree line emerge in front of the rising dawn. But that’s tomorrow. Right now, it’s bedtime. I’m sleepy, and 6 hours after conquering our second and last trail of the day, my toes have yet to warm up. Chat tomorrow!
Update: Tomorrow happened yesterday and started with forgetting to put coffee grounds in the coffee maker. The good news is, the day got better before it got worse!
