For the past two days I found
myself removing weeds from a bed containing peanut plants. Extremely
therapeutic – to the point that I can almost hear myself think again. As I was
finishing up, Robert asked me if I was a “hammer and nails kinda guy.” Well,
not really, but I thought I’d take a shot at fixing one of the large sifters
used to separate the small soil particles from the large debris in a compost
pit. After a quick inspection of the termite infested structure, I decided that
instead of fix I should really just replace the whole thing and got to taking apart
the old one and assembling a new one.
Nope, definitely not a hammer and
nails kinda guy, and made a pretty big goof with the measurements such that the
half-way assembled structure was non-functional. Feeling like an idiot and
fearing the response of Robert or Charlie (another guy that lives on the
property, but outside in a Dan Janzen style hut full of flowers, seeds and
drying plants), I went tail-between-the-legs to for advice.
“Hmm, okay, well let’s see how we
can modify what you’ve got here.”
Wait,
what? I’m not going to get yelled at? You’re not going to throw a
hissy fit that I didn’t make a flawless piece of equipment to standard
specifications? No, none of the above. Instead, after fixing it this morning
and thanking Charlie for his advice he said to me, “we’re all learning here.
It’s all part of the experiment.” These past few days have made me realize just how important it is to
have a boss that is willing to work with you. It doesn’t hurt that the weather
is always nice and there are beautiful mountains as scenery.
