The Long View

4-H sampler from many years ago

Make hay while the sun shines. A stitch in time saves nine. My parents and grandparents all took the long view of things. It made sense. On the farm, if you didn't get a crop in while the weather held, you might not get another chance. And if you didn't mend those pants before a rip got bigger, someone might notice quite a breeze as they walked up from the barn.

The long view. I've been thinking about this a lot over the past year. During the past 12 months, in addition to teaching and making fiber art I have:

• started writing two blogs
• published my first e-books
• started selling my printed books on Etsy
• started selling my print-on-demand fabric designs on Spoonflower

It's been a profitable year -- learning-wise, not money-wise. Money-wise, we can just about afford to celebrate with a glass of Bill's homemade wine, which he makes with stuff we grow or gather, a little bit of sugar, and a big sack full of patience.

There's more wine bubbling away in the basement, working on its own schedule, oblivious to the calendar and to our expectations. I have ideas bubbling away, as well. We learned long ago that the universe cares not a whit about our calendar and our expectations. But we continue to behave as if time is more than a commodity.

With the one-year anniversary of this blog coming up in a couple of days, I want to say a few things now (never put off to tomorrow...).

I'm grateful for those of you who also savor the time you spend in making.

I'm grateful for your patience with me as I learn how to operate in this digital environment.

I'm grateful for your patience with yourself as you tackle new challenges of your own (that's way harder than being nice to someone else, isn't it?).

I'm grateful to you for reading and for sharing your thoughts here.