Day 803. The month of March seems to be flying by rapidly and although I have been staying rather busy of late I have been taking a bit of time each day just to enjoy the sounds of the birds, the blooming of flowers, the returning of the leaves on the trees and generally 'drinking in' the lush landscape.
Having gotten in some quality downtime this winter I have noticed (now that the season has changed) that my transition from 'downtime' to 'work time' is much smoother than it has previously been and I am actually enjoying 'the journey' more than the 'destination'. In other words the process of doing things has gained more value for me than the results of the things I do. I am also feeling less inclined to overwork myself and have a strong desire to pace myself so I do not over exert myself both mentally and physically. I have definitely been pretty good at the pacing myself for a number of years now but lately it feels like I have refined it to the point where it is 'as good as it gets'. When I am doing stuff I try to put my whole attention on what I am doing and although I occasionally find my mind wandering I inevitably 'let go' of whatever has deviated my attention from the task at hand which has resulted in making less mistakes and incurring less injuries to my body. Of course I am no machine and am still going to make mistakes and hell after all even machines make mistakes.
Several days ago I was hacking down briers and the dreaded multi-flora with a swing-blade and was in an area with a lot of leaves and twigs on the ground and became a bit preoccupied watching for snakes (mainly copperheads because those bastards are hard to spot because of their superior camouflage) when the back swing of the swing-blade caught a brier and whipped it across my face as I swung the blade forward and as most things that happen quickly I belatedly realized what was happening but the damage was already done. All things considered it probably could have turned out worse than it did but some of the thorns from the brier raked across both my upper and lower lips simultaneously and although my lower lip only got superficially scratched my upper lip got a pretty deep scratch across nearly it's entire length and although it was only painful for a brief time after the injury it has been both an annoyance ever since and a constant reminder that I need to pay attention when working and not get distracted. The thing that grates at me about the entire incident is that I felt the swing blade connect with something on the back swing and failed to make the split second decision to break my rhythm and see what it was. Hindsight is seldom flattering even though it is often illuminating.
During the winter I often put the venomous snakes out of my mind and enjoy not having to be overly cautious with the things I do and then during the springtime I re-evoke my cautious awareness and pretty much psyche myself out that there is a snake hidden anywhere and everywhere because in my not so humble opinion the best way to deal with a snake bite is to avoid getting bit in the first place. Getting snake bit by a venomous snake is also extremely fucking expensive not just in lost time but in medical expenditures and copperheads in particular having a hemotoxin and no readily available anti-venom (unlike most snakes that have a neurotoxin) makes for a pretty nasty scenario as far as treatment goes. So all that stuff considered I try to be as cautious as possible, use a light to do anything at night, pry up things and look under them before moving them and most importantly do not put my hands or feet in places where I cannot see what might be lurking there. On the flip-side to all that having large black snakes around is a bit comforting because they have a tendency of both occupying the territory venomous snakes inhabit and thus displacing them and they also kill venomous snakes.
Anyway all that jazz aside it is looking like it is going to be a rainy afternoon so I better wrap this post up, do the unavoidable editing and try to accomplish some stuff outside before the rain sets in. I hope that everyone is doing well and has a nice day/night.
