http://www.thefreelibrary.com/In+with+the+new:+companies+bring+fresh+faces+to+the+scene.-a0181671923

Work. It’s a funny thing that we do to ourselves every day. Drag our tired bodies out of a deliciously comfortable bed. Trick our mind into alertness with quick showers and bitter coffee, and trudge, endlessly trudge to work.

My father owns his own business. Red-Worm Landscaping. He installs irrigation systems, mows large fields, designs gardens and yards for Yakima (Washington) residents, and sells rich compost and fertile worms to gardeners and 6th grade science teachers alike. To say the least…hard work.

I learned the meaning of ‘work’ from him. Waking early, working hard, returning late, sleeping well. I watched my father throughout my childhood do back breaking work from sun up to sun down. Until my last years at home, that work was the only thing keeping food on our table.

As I begin to grow into an adult I heard my mother describe him in a simple, yet truly profound, way: “Your father is doing what he always wanted to do. We both are. Ever since he was a boy, all your dad wanted to do was drive trucks and play in the dirt.”

Wow. Even though his body aches and some days it seems like he is too exhausted to continue, my dad loves dirt, working with machinery, and building things; and he has shaped his life to reflect that component of his being. It was truly a life changing realization that my simple parents from a small-minded community, have made choices that have lead them to their own life, not one that they feel they must participate in, but rather one they feel compelled and happy to participate in.

Work is a funny thing. But being able to appreciate how work can be an expression of myself and a reoccurring event of thrilling joy is a tribute to the intelligent, graceful, loving, and complete people that my parents are.

(Renee Adams is a Dancer with the Bouand DanceCompany, and acts as an executive assistant for the Director.
You can learn more about Renee in these places:

http://www.teachstreet.com/teacher/renee-adams

www.bouanddancecompany.org

www.bodyvox.com