April 16, 2020

Productivity: A Matter of Measurement

Yesterday, I walked two dogs, fed
three children two meals each (their
dad fed them one), and collected a
half dozen eggs from eight laying
hens who are fed twice daily.
Actually, there is a ninth laying hen,
a bantam, who is currently occupied
in the garage, hatching four full-sized
eggs. She is one week in to a
three-week stint. Her success rate
is yet to be determined, but she
is diligent about her work. That
reminds me: I need to candle those
eggs to see how they're developing.
That's on today's to-do list.

But I digress. Also, yesterday, I
put five goats on a fresh patch of
spring grass – six hundred, twenty-five
square feet to be exact. Tomorrow,
they will get a new patch of the same
size, so that works out to sixty-two
and one-half square feet of ground
per day per goat. I fed four bottles
of fortified milk to the baby goat
as well, and he got about eight hours
out on a patch of grass of his own.
I washed and dried two loads of
laundry, made two beds (never got
around to the third), and
drank two cups of strong, black tea.

I made half a dozen phone calls of
various duration, finished the day
one email shy of sending a full dozen –
although many more were needed –
and crafted one poem
of indeterminate quality. I did not
stop to count the number of sippy
cups of milk or juice I filled, the
number of hugs I shared with my
favorite pint-sized people, or the
number of giggles or squeals of
joy emanating from their vicinity.
Perhaps, today, I should expand
the scope of my awareness, to
measure even more of what matters.