The Big Rethink

A letter from Ruth:

Dear All;

Please forgive the tardiness of this email; it is actually 4 years of tardiness which is more then a little irresponsible. It was just quite the rabbit hole I went down during the pandemic and my response seems to have been to go numb, as a rabbit does when it’s scared.

But it is I believe the end of the bunny trail; and time to put my head back up into the world and take stock.

At the end of this year; Monforte is officially 20 years old, and while it has been a pretty good kick at the can it hasn’t for me been an easy journey, I don’t think I did it very well; and this old grey mare just ain’t what she use to be. It’s time to rethink the next period of my life; which is definitely the last. I’m not trying to be morbid at all; just rational and thoughtful about what I want that to be and do in this next however many years life gives me.

So, the first thing one should do in these situations is figure out what the important things in life are; and for me they are family; friends; animals and craft. Perhaps not in that order but still…

And the second thing one should do is call your accountant to ask; how much cheese do I need to sell per year to be able to live a decent life; fulfill my responsibilities and be better at being a human being. And he said; if you sell the farm only about $800k which is what we sold during the pandemic; mostly at farmers markets. So, no more stress about trying to produce and sell 2.5 million dollars of cheese and not doing it very well. Instead, just the opportunity to do and be better, and do the work I love the most which is making pleasure giving craft and trying to care for people using markets as the venue.

So I sold the farm.

And now I get to apologize to people whom I have offended by swearing too much; or not being as good as I wanted to be or just generally being stressed and not always as happy as I would have hoped. This is the time for a reinvention of myself and my craft.

It also means that I can take on projects that give me pleasure and hopefully make my world a happier place; and see more of friends, family and animals. So here is to the next quarter of my life; as Hippocrates said; life is short the art of craft long, and I have much craft to learn and be better at.

May this next year be for all of you kinder and more tender then the last four; and may peace surround you.

Sante; Ruth