For Maria and I, the toughest challenge is learning to relax. Neither one of us really knows how to do it, and has ever done it much, especially when we are at home. There is so much do to on the farm, from caring for the animals and the dogs to working on our blogs, writing, art and photography.

We tend to work all the time, we are both obsessives. When we wish to relax, we have to schedule it and delegate one another to remind each of us to stop, to walk, talk, read, listen to music, meditate. Even then, we usually fail. One or the other of us out doing an animal chore, walking the dogs, brushing a pony, taking a video, doing some researching, making some beautiful thing.

We hardly ever stop. Today, the hot weather finally left, we went out to breakfast (a rarity), ran some errands, mowed the lawn, visited the donkeys and pony. Then, we looked at each other (tonight we are having dinner with the Gulleys, the Bards Of The Farm) and said at the same time, “hey, let’s relax. We both sat out on the chairs by the apple tree and read for awhile.

It lasted almost an hour. Maria said she had to move and got up to mow, I (I mowed earlier) came in to put up some Sunday photos. We are trying.