I’ve got papers to grade, parents to meet, evaluations to endure. I’ve got my own children to worry about, and now our children to worry about. I’ve got play practice and buckets to make look like dirt, a house to keep and a road to travel–back and forth, back and forth.

I’ve got meals to plan, running shoes to fill, bulls and horses to feed, gates to close. I’ve got novels to write and blogs and Facebook pages to post on. I’ve got writer’s notebooks to fill.

I’ve got tractors to drive, sunsets to be in awe of, prayers to pray, praise to give and blessings to count. I’ve got love to build, plants to tend, paint to find and boards to build wind breaks with. I’ve got motors and antique Minnie’s to call about, shirts to iron, meat to thaw.

But, it is work that I love and cherish, and play that nourishes my soul–warmed by the sun, chilled by the wind, fed by the meat, the music, the loving, the day-to-day, the living of life that takes my breath away.