In physics, a force is said to do work if, when acting on a body, there is a displacement of the point of application in the direction of the force.

~Definition of “work”, according to the source of truth and keeper of all knowledge.

Zabel Acres has been buzzing with activity recently. After the Maker Faire, a corporate event, and some friendly networking, we started a couple custom projects and have been discussing some exciting collaborations. We’ve gone from a lot of time spent doodling and prototyping, to programming our time and workflow to meet a delivery deadline. We have work to do!

There is always a lot to do here. There are chickens to be fed, logs to be split, trails to be groomed, limbs to be trimmed, and skeeters to be swatted. Between the two of us there is a full-time office job and twenty-four hour responsibility for the lives, feeding of, bathing of parts, and general care and upkeep of several tiny humans. There are trips and visitors, weddings and funerals, birthdays and anniversaries, errands and appointments. Why are we looking for work?

Cereal Box Business Cards

Work gets a bad rap, and to be honest, we’ve done our fair share of complaining about all the work we have to do. But most of that stuff isn’t our work – it’s family, being a human, parenting, paying the bills; it’s life. Work is different and work is good. If you don’t enjoy the work, you’re doing it wrong or you’re doing the wrong work. In Physics, work is the act of applying force to an object (or emotion or idea or movement) and watching it move. Building Zabel Acres has been a lot of work – applying force to different areas of our lives – poking, testing, trying – and watching it move. Getting real, bona-fide, not-related-to-us-nor-life-long-friends, authentic, interesting, paying customers is a gratifying move to see. Now we’re applying our force against their problems and opportunities, and the movement we’re seeing is forward.