Get Ready

Last night while sitting at the supper table I heard that oft heard, oft dreaded phrase once again uttered.

"Well, get ready" he said.  "It's fixin' to get busy around here for the next six weeks."

Really?  Like the last six weeks haven't been busy?  Or the six before that?!

I rolled my eyes when I heard this.  It's one of my least attractive qualities and one of the reasons I wear sunglasses so often.  As my eyes turned towards the heavens; however, my gaze landed upon a book that has been sitting on my bookshelf for years:

This one - she gets me.  We're kindred spirits born 125ish years apart.  We've both had to bust our tails on the same soil.  Both probably rocked babies and wondered where in the world our husband was at and when he was coming home.  I saw the pooch in her belly and wondered if she was 4 months pregnant or just had acquired a permanent 'shelf' like mine after having 3 kids in 3.75 years.  It's not lost on me the countless ways my life is filled with more creature comforts than hers, but I appreciate the biggest commonality we share - we're both just trying to raise good kids and eek out a living.

I wondered if she breathed a huge sigh of relief when someone else offered to take her kids to the nursery during church so she could have 30 minutes a week without being in charge of someone else (but let's be honest, she probably didn't) and then I wondered what she would have done for self care, a phrase that's become so over-used and abused that I've come to despise.  Truth be told, we're probably looking at it in this photo.  She got 30 minutes to herself and decided to pick up cow chips for firewood and she was relishing in the quiet until someone interrupted her solitude and asked to take a photo.  I feel you, girl.

"Are you listening?  Hellllooooo?" my husband asked as I snapped back to reality.  I didn't realize how many moments I'd been lost in my thoughts with this prairie woman.

"We've got it.  We're ready.  Bring on the next six weeks of haying and shipping and fair and life."

Now that I've 're-found' this book on my shelf I imagine that I'll be glancing upward at her quite often for a little inspiration.