A couple of weeks ago, an e-mail from Maggie inspired the title for the entry “Small Disasters”. Since then, she has joked that she is attempting to find another way to be mentioned in these whimsical “Tales”. Well, she has succeeded, although she will probably not be all too exuberant over this entry, but I digress.
Two years ago in early January, I spent an evening searching the internet for Certified Organic sweet potato slips. (Slips are the term for the starting portion of the sweet potato.) This was inspired by Maggie because, apparently, she LOVES sweet potatoes and insisted they become part of the farm’s rotation. So, in early January, I did my part to assuage her and found a source in Iowa. The order was placed and all looked promising for sweet potatoes in 2009. Until…
During one of our markets, Maggie was attempting to sell our CSA and told the potential customer that we would have sweet potatoes in the fall. After the sales approach was over, I mentioned to her that it would be better not to mention sweet potatoes since we had not received the slips to plant yet. Too late. She jinxed the situation. That July, I received a letter from the farm that grows the slips explaining how, due to weather, they could not fill all of the orders, and that we would not be receiving any slips in 2009.
Ah, the jinx. What is it? According to the Free Online Dictionary, it is “a condition or period of bad luck that appears to have been caused by a specific person or thing.” In the case just mentioned, the jinx was caused by Maggie, but then again, what is involved with this jinx situation? How can one person’s statement cause such bad luck? Is it really possible that a simple statement could bring about such a jinx?
The situation repeated itself this spring, when Maggie mentioned to another potential CSA member that we would have sweet potatoes in the fall. I ordered the slips earlier this year to make sure they would be received, but again, I had to insist for Maggie not to mention the sweet potatoes until we knew the slips would arrive. Last week, I received a letter from the farm telling me that, again, no slips would be sent to the farm this year. In two consecutive years, Maggie jinxed the sweet potatoes.
Is it really that simple? I wonder. To turn aside from continuing to sacrifice Maggie here, I will admit that I have jinxed many, many situations over the years. At least that is how it seems. But I am not a superstitious person. In fact, I could be considered the complete opposite. All of my efforts are aligned to science, that is, an historical approach to what repeats itself over and over again. Nonetheless, the most simple of statements continue to appear to jinx multiple situations.
Here is another example. A neighbor up the road from the farm, Kirk, just moved onto his property a few months ago. He is new to the territory, so he is unaware that as the storm clouds that form on Doppler radar approach our fourth highest point in Carroll County, those storm clouds in our summers normally dissipate into nothing, other than hearing thunder to the north or the south. After ten years of witnessing such depressing situations, I am well aware of how such storm systems result. Nonetheless, once a storm system approaches, YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT IT!!! If you do, nothing will result. Why? I don’t know, but it is seemingly always the case. As I mentioned to Kirk, such approaching storms should be approached like teammates approach a baseball pitcher on his way towards a no-hitter. YOU DO NOT TALK TO HIM, OTHERWISE YOU WILL JINX THE NO-NO!
But Kirk was not familiar with how infrequently rain visits us in our northwest Carroll County area. The first time such a storm approached, Kirk asked me about whether we would get rain. Immediately I knew that he had jinxed the possibility and told him, “No.” We received no precipitation. The next situation for possible rain resulted in the same situation, and at that point, I told him about the “jinx” aspect that is involved. As rain approached last week, I needed to talk to Kirk about something, but did not make the phone call, simply because I knew he would mention the possible rain. After a month of no rain, I could not take the chance of a jinx, so the call was not made. And it rained. And rained, and rained, and rained.
How does this come to be? (“Why?” is a very convoluted question. My experience has led me to start my questions with, “How…”) It very much seems to tie in with the basic tenet of farming most notably termed “Murphy’s Law”. That which can go wrong will. Anyone who has experienced farm work for even the smallest amount of time most assuredly has witnessed that law in action. That which can go wrong will. So, when one looks optimistically at a particular situation regarding the farm and voices said optimism, one is inevitably disregarding that sagacious tenet. That which can go wrong will. But for another example, back to Maggie, she did mention that we would have tomatoes and beans, etc. in the CSA, and we do! Amazing! There was no jinx on those crops! Ah, but there seems to be something much more at play here. How does it come to be that the most tentative situations, once mentioned, often incur the jinx?
One aspect of farming that I have learned over the years, and this includes every other possible sphere as well, is that whatever I attempt to do for the first time, I ALWAYS fail at dismally. I have pondered on this situation for countless hours. If often seems that I choose the opposite path towards success without fail. To be certain, that is the quickest route to learn from one’s mistakes, that is, if one is constantly making mistakes, but how is it that such erroneous judgment is so consistently made? Does this have anything to do with a jinx? Could it be possible that perhaps all of this is some subconscious plot? But enough with psychology…
I guess my next question is how powerful can a jinx actually be? To take Maggie’s example, is it possible that her innocent statements could cause some family farm in Iowa to experience sweet potato crop failure in two successive years? Is it possible that Kirk’s question about rain diverted omnipotent storm clouds to be diverted to the north and south? It does not seem likely, and yet, that is what happens.
My final example is my own jinx. Earlier this year I had been catching a lot of grief from friends of mine who complain that I never hang out because I am always too busy with the farm. I do feel bad about that, and as I formed the farm plan this winter, that plan appeared to allow me to take Saturday evenings off starting sometime in July. And so, I told my friends quite optimistically that I would be able to fraternize around that time. I should have never made that statement. It seems the power of my erroneous optimism was enough to prevent all rain from falling on the farm for a month and send temperatures into the 100’s in a normally mild time of year. How powerful I am!!! If only I could out think the jinx and send it in a beneficial direction! But, alas, that is not the case. Instead of hanging out with friends one day a week, all extra time has been spent channeling water to severely dehydrated crops.
So, how powerful is a jinx? Can a simple word of optimism prevent a no-hitter, sweet potato crop, a rain storm, or rain for an entire month? DON’T TALK ABOUT IT!!!