Dancing With The Wise Old Rabbit
G'Day Folks,
The most rascally of all rabbits has made home on our farm and we have failed miserably at even catching a glimpse of this Houdini. Just yesterday we re-planted the same crop for the third time in a row and we are praying like anything they are left alone. This Rabbit has left very subtle clues but is clearly a wise old bunny, it seems unlikely we will trap him and I'm not sure he would let me get near enough to shoot him.
My eldest daughter Ava was angry with me each time I set off at night to try and shoot this Rabbit. But after helping me re-plant the same crop for the third time now, she is adamant this Rabbit must go!
Sometimes you feel like farming is a battle with nature, but this mentality doesn't bode well in the long run. Treating it like a battle only leaves you exhausted and frustrated. Nature is never exhausted, she never gets frustrated, no matter what we throw at her, she just carries on about her business in the most peaceful of ways. Never have I seen nature in a rush, but like a recovering forest after a bushfire, suddenly she is everywhere. I prefer to think about farming as a dance with nature, it works better for my mental state. If I try to beat her through sheer force of will, I fear I will become bitter and resentful.
Lets face it, the food we eat, the way we grow it, is a long long way away from what nature intended. The battle against nature began as soon as we decided to domesticate wheat, rice and corn among other plants. Wheat is now grown on a larger area of land than any other food crop, it covers 545 million acres. You could say it is the most successful plant on earth, so did humans domesticate wheat or did wheat domesticate humans?
As soon as that first seed was sown, the majority of humans for the past 10,000 years have been wedded to this single plant. We spent all our time ensuring it had enough to drink, making sure its competitors were killed and destroyed (we gave these competitors a name ‘weeds’), we cleared forests, dug up the ground, planted more and more of it believing one day we would have enough, one day we could relax and enjoy the fruits of our labour.
Most of us are told from a young age, our lives will be brilliant if we get good marks in school, we will have whatever we want if we do well in University, our dream job we’ve been working so hard for will bring us an eternity of joy, owning our own home will allow us to feel content, killing this Rabbit will be the final hurdle I have to jump, after that, well then I can enjoy life!
Tonight, same as the night before, I will dance with that wise old Rabbit!
