By Bill Spiegel, Byline Editor
On a cold, winter day in January, ACN President Martha Mintz felt exhausted. On the ACN Facebook page, she wrote: “I needed this reminder to stop and center myself. I pictured sitting right next to a wheat field that’s just starting to ripen. Mid-morning, so the sun is starting to deliver the sweet smell of grain, and with a breeze, I can hear the drying awns dance against each other. Definitely one of my happy places.”
Mintz issued the following “ACN Challenge” on social media: Set a timer for one minute. Sit comfortably with good posture. Close your eyes and picture your favorite agricultural scene while taking deep, 5-count breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth.
Here are responses to her prompt.
Holly Spangler: I picture fall harvest Dads and moms and uncles and grandmas in the combine and auger wagon and semis. Supper served up from the back of an SUV. Cousins throwing a football on the side of the field. A beautiful sunset and the smell of grain and dirt and clear skies. Hired-men-that-are-like-family, teasing the little kids. Somebody razzing somebody else and everybody laughing. Night fall and you can see pairs of headlights in the next 80 over. When I’m old, this is what I’ll remember best.
Maggie Malson: Driving through the pasture with my husband and our kids to look at and talk about the cattle. Watching them tag calves and work together. Seeing the sun set as the cows graze. Hot coffee in my mug. Laughing and teasing each other.
Kenna Rathai: Sitting at my office desk being able to look to the left out my window and see my brother and nieces farming my family’s land.
Do you practice meditation? What visions of serenity do you picture when you close your eyes and relax? Let us know on Facebook.