Senwes Scenario Desember 2015 / Januarie 2016 | Page 60

••• F UT UR E F OC U S JENNY MATHEWS FOR EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN THERE IS A SEASON… W e have many opportunities presented to us throughout the span of our lives. The choices we make in those moments often have the power to determine the course of many lives. How many of us are adequately in tune with what is truly important to make the right decisions and recognise precious moments? An old wisdom says, ‘We all have the freedom to choose; but we are not free from the consequences of those choices!’ For sure living and learning is about committed hard work and effort - but it’s also about relationships and magical moments of happiness! How we choose to bring balance into living and loving is a power we hold in our own hands and yes… there IS an appointed time for everything under the sun – even for farmers! A TIME TO PLANT… Not long ago we decided to allow the last of our off-spring to join us in the farming business. Now an exciting and challenging season has begun with all our sons bringing new ideas to the table and boundless energy to the operations. I have gone from cooking small breakfasts for two, to preparing massive slap-up breakfasts for hungry young men; to dealing with the drama of allergic reactions to bee stings and doctoring fingers sliced by angle grinders - life is a kaleidoscope of voices and activity and is quite 58 I HELD A MOMENT IN MY HAND, BRILLIANT AS A STAR, FRAGILE AS A FLOWER, A TINY SLIVER OF ONE HOUR. I DROPPED IT CARELESSLY, AH, I DIDN’T KNOW - I HELD OPPORTUNITY! - HAZEL LEE ‘deliciously’ chaotic some days! What if he had said NO…? I often pause to wonder how different things could have been if my husband had told the boys that there was no room for them on the farm because agriculture is under too much pressure, both politically and economically, and they must rather pursue other career paths. I would be lying if I did not admit to sometimes worrying about their choices to farm, but I also know two very important things: 1) That I would not be loving the extended quiet hours alone on the farm waiting for occasional visits from our children and 2) That they are motivated and happy to go to work every day - what a privilege! A TIME TO UPROOT THAT WHICH WAS PLANTED… At the other end of life’s journey, I am tasked this week with helping my parents, who are now in their eighties, to pack up their farm house and sort through a life time of memories in preparation for their move to a town where they feel they will be better off into their old age, closer to amenities and medical care… This is certainly a head decision, not a heart one, because they are finding it difficult - not only because of down-sizing, but because it’s painful to close the door on an industrious, successful Desember 2015/Januarie 2016 • SENWES Scenario career which saw my Dad move from pharmacist to farmer. What if my Dad hadn’t been brave enough to make a dramatic career change…? The past decades on the farm have been a very happy season of their lives. They have loved the peace and tranquility of their farm and have delighted in clambering across the hills enveloped by majestic views of rolling green hills and trout dams, sharing picnics with friends and family soaking up ever-changing vistas of the moody Drakensberg in the distance. They have lived close to Nature and felt the rhythms of the seasons. Winter snowfalls have kept them housebound without heat or electricity; trapped because ancient trees have bowed and broken under the weight of the heavy snows blocking their routes to the district road. They have watched with wide-eyed fear as runaway fires travelled furiously across dry grazing lands to devour entire forests, angry flames licking up tall trees. And they have gloried in peaceful, golden sunsets while watching swallows zipping across colour-washed skies. They have been incredible role models, teaching their children and grandchildren to treasure the simple yet marvellous, magical moments in time - opening our eyes to the wonder of a tiny bird hatching, a timid bush buck venturing from the forest or the endless delight of harvesting vegetables grown in the kitchen garden.