Farmer/philosopher David Mas Masumoto measures his time left working by the number of harvests he's yet to complete. As we get older, many of us think about this issue in another way -- simply how long it is until we retire. But Mas gives us another measurement in his Sunday column.
Now I wonder how many columns I have left, or editorials or blog postings.
Here's the opening to Mas' column:
Over morning coffee, I was talking with my wife, Marcy, about plans to plant another heirloom peach variety and where on the farm it would grow the best.She paused and asked, "How many more harvests do you have?"
The question floored me. Up to that point, I had never measured my life in the number of harvests left. That implied a finite number remaining. I had never thought to quantify my farming life.
"Years left" can either sound very depressing or like a wake-up call. You can do a lot with 10 more harvests. Then can you do twice as much with 20?
So how many harvests do you have left?
Margaret and I are both 75. We are thinking in terms of how many cars we have left in us. Our current car is 8 years old. We usually go 10 years. That would take us to 87 with a new car in two years. But will we drive less? An interesting way to look at---life, and death.
I would say we are all day to day and to live each day as if it were your last. One day you'll be right.