All the"Noise, Noise, Noise"

I pulled out my old stovetop tea kettle again...the one retired for the electric whizbang version that Rich brought into the house for delectable pour over coffees once he started roasting beans for us. It's a fixture of a simpler time before I folded and allowed a smartphone to ride on my hip...consistently pulling me out the here and now. Jack, whose room is just off the kitchen wakes up if I get distracted and let the kettle whistle. Just sit and dilly...and dally too while the simmer builds, to be there to take it off the heat at the hint of a boil. Don't do your busy-body thing...compulsively putting away dishes or tucking toys away or checking emails and messages on that dumb smart phone. It's five minutes to simply wait for the kettle, and maybe five more to watch the tea steep. That herbal tea, medicinally strong by way of chamomile or lavendar or a concoction of calming herbs. It's an antivenin to the poison of productivity.

It may have been the very welcome and unexpected cool mornings we had last week. Two of them, to be exact, which elicited an extra morning layer and triggered a desire for cozy things. I also pulled out the sweet orange incense cones gifted by a friend, the ones which I used to burn in high school and throughout my life before Rich, my guy with a sensitive nose. A hot mug of herbs and a bit of incense and I feel that my ultra rabbit personality is tempered. Other than music that makes you dance like crazy, I'm really leaning toward the things that slow me down. Chet Baker is playing just as regularly as Polo & Pan (give them a listen if you haven't...I challenge you not to enjoy them). Even better, I've been trying to leave my phone on the table in the barn while I work...left with my thoughts, the insect song, of course the myriad of birds whose voices I've learned by being immersed in their chatterspace everyday, the neighbor's donkey occasionally braying loud and clear, and the kids rotating through various activities on the farm. Adding a podcast or music to this farmcentric soundscape is almost too much stimulation.

There's so much potential noise in modern life. But we found a loophole...working for ourselves in the middle of a piece of land in the country. So long as we can mitigate the media's racket and the constant ability to be online, we are free to live a quieter life than most. I'm saying "no" to the notifications and I'm on the cusp of extracting us from social media...holding on for fear that we will cut off a contingent of people who keep up with the farm through our Instagram presence. But the more regularly you tune in to the world beyond your immediate reality, the more you start to lose a sense of your place in the world.

I ran into Nicky of Billie Gold Bubble Tea and her right hand at the local summer fair yesterday and was enriched by her positivity and really grounded after our conversation. Observing her, industrious and buzzing with that entrepreneurial spirit, exuding a welcoming, peaceful energy, I realize how much of a force she is. Infusing all of the above in our Dayton community, trailing some sort of polychrome stardust in the wake of her bubble tea truck as she closes out another day to head back to her shop. Seemingly, she stays focused on the part she plays in this life and pours herself into it. A mother, a business owner and truly a connector in our community, hosting events, hyping up and partnering with other local entities, and even using her platform to help find missing dogs. What an inspiration.

In our conversation we talked about life away from all the noise. Noise being what removes you from your real existence and threatens your peace and makes you feel you're not doing enough, or even breaks your spirit by inundating you with the myriad of problems that you can't solve in the world. Instead of exhausting your finite time in such a way, perhaps plugging into the life you were plunked into, taking the ball you were given and running with it is a better way to spend it. Minimizing the noise to the point where you hear enough to be aware of the world , and leaving enough airspace to listen to what's calling you in your immediate life.

Lately for me, it's inserting bits of spontaneity into our intense summer schedule on the farm, and calling it a night a bit earlier to put the kettle on and come down from it all with Rich before we are too spent to talk. That happens after some of these hot days if we don't eject ourselves from the hustle early enough in the evening. We have a habit of mindlessly tending to this place until 9 pm, the sun fooling us as it procrastinates on the horizon. But the little reminders from this past week, a few cool mornings and good conversation at the bubble tea truck were what I needed to get back to calling it a night sooner, to take more time over morning coffee and to tune out the noise and focus on what's right here within reach.

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