The Zen of Puttering at the Barn
In my early 20’s I worked at a horse farm. By “work” I mean hard physical labor for 8 hours a day. I cleaned 26 unmatted stalls, feed and watered 40 horses twice a day, swept the aisleway non-stop and raked up the outside areas. In the winter months I worked in all kinds of weather and had the added muscle building chores of cleaning out flooded stalls when the automatic waterer pipes burst, and digging trenches through the mud filled paddocks. I loved the work, but it was a “job” and I eventually moved on to a less physical, better paying jobs with career paths. Fast forward 20 plus years and it blows my mind that my favorite part of my day right now is the extra hour I spend at the barn after working with Joe. I make the time to clean his stall, sweep the aisleway, water the horses, pick up things that are out of place and rake anything that needs it. It’s become my “Zen time” and it takes me full circle to an experience that 20-year-old me couldn’t make sense of. A memory th...