Over easy

By Christine Tailer
HCP columnist

I know that the phrase "over easy" refers to fried eggs, but that image is far from what I have in mind. I’m not thinking about breakfast at all. I am rather thinking of the way that one year turns to the next, sometimes with a ruckus, other times with whisper, and now that I am older, often with a good night's sleep. 

This year, as we have for the past several years, Greg and I plan to just take it easy.

On some creek valley days, time seems to smoothly sail on by. The sun shines. The house is warm. The chores are all done. 

Yet, there are other days when time feels as though it is solidly stuck in the mud. I feel as though I have so much that I should be doing, yet for some reason I can’t figure out where to begin. I just want to sit in my rocker and rock the day away. 

And then there are other days when our creek valley time is downright rough. The firewood is either critically low, or a massive pile needs stacking. The pasture creatures need another round bale of hay, but the tractor won't start, and then it doesn't help that it's 2 degrees outside.

So, my thought is this. Easy is a wonderfully a simple word. It has a peaceful calmness about it. All I need to do, no matter how time is passing, is remind myself to take it easy.

When my little brother and I were younger, we would get so excited that we'd start "bouncing off the walls" as our parents would say. They’d look at us and calmly say "easy now. Take it easy children." 

We'd settle down, the words flowing through us, easy, easy now, yet I also remember that sometimes it was as hard to settle down. I remember still wanting to run and tumble with my brother, but in time the words took hold. "Easy, easy now."

So, as this year turns into the next, I'm going to take it easy. I'll imagine that I'm walking up the creek road. There is a steep hill that rounds a bend, and then slopes gently down the other side. I walked up it the other day, each step harder than the one before. My pace slowed. I began to breathe fast. I could feel my pulse quicken, and then I reached the top. I started down the other side. Easy over. My stride picked up, my breath slowed, and my heartbeat calmed. Yes, I was easy over.

Sure, I could worry about the cold weather ahead. I could fret that I should be doing this or that, and I could try to hurry up and get that other thing done, but I think not. 

This year, as one year turns to the next, I'm going to go over easy. Maybe the breakfast analogy holds true. Fried eggs to start the day. Easy over as I turn the calendar page, but perhaps I should confess. I've never cared for my eggs over easy. I've always preferred them hard.

Christine Tailer is an attorney and former city dweller who moved several years ago, with her husband, Greg, to an off-grid farm in south-central Ohio. Visit them on the web at straightcreekvalleyfarm.com.