CLAYTON RYE
I do not claim to be a big fan of sports in general, giving it just a passing interest most of the year.
However, I can predict the winner of every game before it even starts.
The winner will be the one who has the most points at the end of the ninth inning or when the whistle sounds the end of the fourth quarter.
It will not necessarily be the one who is ahead at half-time or the third quarter or even the eighth inning.
Neither will it be the one who needs a 10th inning or fifth quarter to rally from behind and win the game.
Okay, this is not exactly what you thought I would be saying, is it?
My point is that, as we have frequently heard, timing is everything. Too early can be as much of a disadvantage as too late.
When my wife and I met about 20 years ago, the timing was good.
Had we met six months or a year earlier or later, we would have been in different places in life and nothing would have happened.
We would both be with different people today and missed out on a lot of fun we have had with each other and our families.
Here is another example.
My wife loves preparing meals and part of her preparation is timing – everything to be ready at the same time.
If the dessert is ready early, while the meat has an hour to go and the vegetables are ready right now, what kind of meal is that?
If my wife has prepared a meal that is ready at noon and I walk in an hour late and say, “Have you got lunch ready?” I should be prepared to be served hot tongue and cold shoulder.
I got another lesson in timing while watching sheep being judged at a county fair last week.
Once the judge had made his ranking of the entrants, he would give his comments why he picked the order from top on down.
A common comment heard about the sheep that did not place as highly was that they needed another 30 days to reach their finish; they were not quite ready.
For all you young people having livestock at the fair that were judged as still needing more time to reach that state of being ready for market, just remember that the problem was not with your animal. The problem was that the fair was held too early.
Just think what another 30 days would do.
While your animal was reaching its market weight with a good finish, the grand prize winner would also have another 30 days and probably not win because it was becoming over finished.
Another 30 days and the judge’s rankings of the prize winners would be overturned with those placing lower now reaching the top.
I wrote earlier that timing is everything.
Considering how even the briefest of chance happenings can have life altering implications, maybe, in this world, timing is the only thing.
Rye is a Farm News staff writer and farmer from Hanlontown. Reach him by e-mail at crye@wctatel.net.