Love my Job

I really love my job. There are many many reasons for this. I enjoy working in the organic foods industry; it makes me feel like I'm doing something to preserve the Earth for OrganicKid and any of her potential children. I really care about many of the farmers that I come into contact with. I respect what they do. They're warm, funny, generous, dedicated folks.

I also really appreciate all my co-workers. They're a great bunch of people, who work hard, like to laugh, and know how to say thank you. They give me energy to keep going when I'm having a bad day, and understand when I'm in a good, goofy mood. I am so lucky to be working with this bunch.

But, I have to admit, one of the things I most appreciate is that I can do my job from my home in North Carolina. The head office for my company is in North Dakota. Somewhere between Fargo and Bismarck. Somewhere in a town with 7 churches and 3 bars. And... as of this winter, snow. They have snow. They have lots and lots and lots of snow. They have approximately 400% more snow than an average year. Yes. You read that right. 400%. Close to (if not above, by now) 100 inches of snow. Again, yes, you read that right. 100 inches of snow. I can't even imagine this. They're in the process of requesting to have fewer than the mandated 180 days of school. Because if they don't get this request, they may not have more than a week or two of summer. They've had to close school so often this year. So, what does 100 inches of snow look like? It looks sorta like this:

That's looking out my boss's front door. I'm not sure when they started avoiding using the front door. My guess is December. That's part of the problem. It started snowing in early November. And it really hasn't stopped. It hasn't gotten warm. Generally, North Dakotans can count on a warm snap some time in January, and another in February. One that starts the melting process. Oh, it'll snow again after those warm ups. And it'll get cold again. But it starts melting, so some of that snow goes away. This year it hasn't really happened. It hasn't warmed up. I was in California for a week in January with one of my North Dakota co-worker gals, Janine. It was 40 below zero the night before she left. That's air temp, not wind chill. The wind chill made it colder. Like 100 inches of snow, I can't even imagine this. I can't imagine what 40 degrees below zero would be like. Except damned cold. Colder than any human should have to even try to survive.

In March, finally things started warming up. But, when it gets warm, where does 100 inches of unmelted snow go? In North Dakota, it goes here:


That's right. It goes camping!

Here's the fun part...a few days after this photo was taken, guess what happened? Yeah. It snowed again. Happy days, man. I tell you, these North Dakotans are tougher than me. I couldn't hack it. So, what did I do when these poor folks I work with were dealing with snow, and floods, and more snow? I did this:

I went to an organic growers school in western North Carolina. Where a coat wasn't necessary. Where the sun was shining. Where the classes ended early enough each day to get some hiking in. Like I said, I love my job. But I think a good part of that is due to the fact that they don't make me live in North Dakota....