I often joke that most people wake up with about 80% patience for the day. I wake up in a deficit. -5% if I’m lucky.
This lack of patience makes the homesteading life difficult because I don’t like waiting for progress. I’ve already put the thought and money into it, why isn’t working? Case in point has been the animals. This year, we added goats, chickens and pigs to the mix. Watching the goats bleat while waiting for store-bought food, watching the chickens sit in their coop instead of going into the field, and waiting for the opportunity to get pigs again…
Well, it’s finally paid off. Much like a paycheck makes a job worthwhile, seeing the goats chomping on brush and the chickens attacking bugs in the development plot and the pigs ripping through weeds (they’re kune-strong in their bloodline), there’s a sense of relief: finally, the paycheck arrived.
It certainly isn’t an easy life. If I wanted easy, I’d just do my job as it is, and enjoy the evening after. But I like working, so I like this.