As Predictable as the Holidays

I told the workers last week that these two weeks -- the last week of August and the first week of September -- are the most challenging for the morale of farm people.  Knowing this, I don't really slide into the ruts. But so many people do.  Our crew in Loudoun, an upbeat and lovely bunch, is dragging.  They are showing up on time, working hard, not complaining. But they are suffering from all the usual weight of the season -- fatigue, too much of the same thing, way too much heat and humidity, a feeling of endless work.  Our crew in Vienna, on schedule, is dwindling to a tiny core group. Every year Carrie and I just pick up more and more of the slack, and we expect it.

I told the workers that most farms lose some workers during this period, but lately we have not had the drama and weeping that comes with this dark period.

My father hated this time of year.  Zach hates this time and he experiences inner turmoil every August.  Ellen had meltdowns just about every year in late August.

Even though we try to avoid the sink holes, some people fall right into them anyway, not knowing they are there.  One of our best workers just had her hardest day ever yesterday, and it was just another day on the farm but she is too tired and too hard on herself.

A day after I alerted them to the season that we are in, I got a call from our neighbor farmer friend saying that one of his workers had just quit, for all the reasons that we know about (the cost benefit analysis for him just helped him to see that this was not enough fun to make it worth it).  And then yesterday we lost one here in Vienna.  She had been flagging but yesterday she just lost all momentum and gave up. 

The thing is, it's all in our minds.  Michael says that at their program in Innsbruck (peace studies, etc.) they described this part of the cycle -- the middle -- as the chaos period, or some such words. Here it is not chaos but people experience this time as overwhelming. Working hard in the heat for days and days can get right into your psyche.

For me it is just long days and short weeks but after a lifetime of living through this, I no longer feel the downward pull of emotional and physical fatigue.  I have Jon and an air conditioned house (which would undoubtedly help those workers, I should think about that) and too much to think about.

Luckily, we are halfway through these predictably trying days and soon it will be cooler and the days will be shorter and we will be on the downward slope.