“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” ~ Molière
This is one of those very demoralizing days of being a farmer. Most people publish their blog posts when history is being made, when awards are being given, milestones met -- and we've done that, as well -- but very few publish posts when everything that could go wrong does go wrong. It is probably because one doesn't want to actually put it down in writing, so that it's out there for the world to see. It could be that their very soul feels crushed and they just can't go there.
We have chronicled our good, bad, and ugly throughout our adventure, so since we're having an extreme moment of coyote ugly currently, it seems to be somewhat cathartic to post on a day when it seems as if we've worked so very hard to get it right, yet every email, phone call, and piece of mail brings bad news. Maybe it will just help another realize they're not the only ones having bad days and feel better about things.
We do have things in perspective, we still have our health, but the goalposts we've worked so hard to inch closer to seem to have been yanked so far out of reach, a reality check would tell the average person that maybe it's just not possible.
A logically-thinking person might easily realize that it is just not possible to do business in California; that while it is the land of abundance and the landscape and climate encourages perfect farming conditions, the quagmire of regulation from the state, to the county, to professional organization regulations just makes it impossible to start a company, let alone nurture and grow it.
In our microscopic farm, one of us is the pragmatist and one of us is the ultimate optimist. It is possible that the pragmatist would consider the most recent blows, then plan, regroup, and be ready to fight another day. Perhaps these defeats are hardest on the optimists and the dreamers, because one cannot believe in a dream without a passion for that dream, and when the very dream seems to be crumbling around them, the vision appears to be evaporating and dying.
There is enough pragmatist in this dreamer to recall to mind that tomorrow is another day and that it is not the boulders in the road that trip us up, it is the pebbles, and that if there are boulders, one needs to plan a route around them, not through them. There is even a game plan for Contingency A, B, and C, but just as on the night the locust ate all our grapevine leaves or when the wells wouldn't work or any of the other numerous problems we've encountered, doubt creeps in and one cannot help but wonder why we are putting ourselves through this. The continual answer is that mediocrity or the status quo is not an answer to us.
In the end, if we must suffer occasional setbacks and failures while striving for greater levels of success, rather than settle for mediocrity, we will just buy more salve for our wounds and recite the words of Molière over and over, and perhaps the next day will seem brighter.
We have chronicled our good, bad, and ugly throughout our adventure, so since we're having an extreme moment of coyote ugly currently, it seems to be somewhat cathartic to post on a day when it seems as if we've worked so very hard to get it right, yet every email, phone call, and piece of mail brings bad news. Maybe it will just help another realize they're not the only ones having bad days and feel better about things.
We do have things in perspective, we still have our health, but the goalposts we've worked so hard to inch closer to seem to have been yanked so far out of reach, a reality check would tell the average person that maybe it's just not possible.
A logically-thinking person might easily realize that it is just not possible to do business in California; that while it is the land of abundance and the landscape and climate encourages perfect farming conditions, the quagmire of regulation from the state, to the county, to professional organization regulations just makes it impossible to start a company, let alone nurture and grow it.
In our microscopic farm, one of us is the pragmatist and one of us is the ultimate optimist. It is possible that the pragmatist would consider the most recent blows, then plan, regroup, and be ready to fight another day. Perhaps these defeats are hardest on the optimists and the dreamers, because one cannot believe in a dream without a passion for that dream, and when the very dream seems to be crumbling around them, the vision appears to be evaporating and dying.
There is enough pragmatist in this dreamer to recall to mind that tomorrow is another day and that it is not the boulders in the road that trip us up, it is the pebbles, and that if there are boulders, one needs to plan a route around them, not through them. There is even a game plan for Contingency A, B, and C, but just as on the night the locust ate all our grapevine leaves or when the wells wouldn't work or any of the other numerous problems we've encountered, doubt creeps in and one cannot help but wonder why we are putting ourselves through this. The continual answer is that mediocrity or the status quo is not an answer to us.
In the end, if we must suffer occasional setbacks and failures while striving for greater levels of success, rather than settle for mediocrity, we will just buy more salve for our wounds and recite the words of Molière over and over, and perhaps the next day will seem brighter.
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