Thought for the Day - June 15,00

Subject: Thought for the Day - June 15,00
From: GUEST,Peter T.
Date: 15 Jun 00 - 09:26 AM

A few days ago I was out with a farmer friend of mine doing some temporary fencing (an electric fence to keep a horse from going walkabout), and we were engaged in that time-honoured Canadian tradition of struggling with the bush. The original fence was interlaced with sumacs, incipient apple trees, wild grapevines, and god knows what all. In the hot sun, we hacked and slashed our way along the fence row, heading deeper into the woods. Since the job had nothing to recommend it, we waxed philosophical. At one point, a badly set up fence post caused my friend to remark: "A farm is a constant provider of rebuke -- why didn't you do that right the first time?" When faced with a particularly recalcitrant snarl, I suggested the notion that clearing the bush was like Buddhist teaching: the easy entanglements to clear away are the big branches, that only require an axe and some brawn; it is the wild vines that weave their tendrils inextricably into the fence rows that are the hellish ones -- and then you have to decide if you are going to untangle them one by one, or go at them all at once, and even then it is almost endless. And then there are the initial fence posts that you never set up right when you skimped on digging the original holes, and have to be redug, and so on...... As the sun got hotter and the task snarlier, we both agreed that perhaps the nearest analogy was editing one's own writing, trying to create a decent straightforward sentence out of the unweeded clumps of intertwined thoughts and cheap ideas and bad grammar that engulf our every attempt. And so on. As Robert Frost knew, there is nothing like working a fence row to get you talking about something to take your mind off how many more hours of this bushwork you have to go through before dinner.

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - June 15,00
From: GUEST,Mrr
Date: 15 Jun 00 - 09:51 AM

Very philosophical. My main thought for today, unfortunately, was Oh good, it's payday. Much more mundane... maybe I'm not working hard enough...

Subject: RE: Thought for the Day - June 15,00
From: JenEllen
Date: 15 Jun 00 - 02:40 PM

There's nothing like working a fence row, period.
I met one of my step-grandfathers when I was eight. He is a 3rd generation cattle rancher, and on our first meeting he gave me a horse and a dog, and put me to work. The first few summers I worked for him, I thought it amazing how his mind held the entire operation, which lines were down, what cows were where, breeding, and gestations. At that young age, it never occured to me that his livelihood depended on it, it was just magical.
Riding the fenceline here after the snowmelt takes roughly three days, just to get an overview of conditions. Always camping out under the stars and curling up with your dog at night just to stay warm. I'd asked Grampa about maybe waiting until it got warmer to go out, he said I could wait for the rattlesnakes if I wanted to, he'd pass.(spit tobacco here)
My freshman year in college, Grampa had surgery done on both knees. He couldn't swing to saddle for months, doctor's orders. I ran line for him, and the usual three days ended up taking the better part of a week. It was wonderful. Every year since, I've subtly offered to do it again, and have cut the time down considerably.
I don't know if I can describe the peace it gives you, not just from manual labor, but from knowing that no one has stood where you're standing for at least a year. No television, no telephones, no automobiles, just the earth and the sky, and your own tired self that's been cut to crap by barbed wire. You clear the detritus of the year from the lines, and the time away helps clear your head a bit as well.
I suppose the Buddhist element works there, if there is such a thing as Buddhist Boot Camp. The snarls and snags have to be dealt with, or you just don't get to go home.