"The world as we have created, it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking." - Albert Einstein

I want to thank the hundreds of people who, however it worked for them, supported me as I cared for my mom during the end of her life. True earning of karma. And of course there are the few who had to be opportunists for criticism. Oh well. The many outweigh the few. And I hope no one finds themselves in the position I found myself.

For a time, there wasn't any thinking about agronomy. In fact,  I was damn happy not to. Burnout? I don't know. Just needed to use my famous focus on another reality, unleashing my inner Turfhead on Doctors, Nurses, Insurance companies and Snowplow Drivers. But later than sooner, I actually got in some deep thinking about agronomy during the ordeal.

Slowly the Turfhead ghosts crept back in. Some aided by communications in email. Some by reading the feeds and posts of others. At first I cursed them and their visits. Then welcomed their occasional offers of Turfhead chew. And the progression to meals shared and the bed now and then. Ah Turf Addiction, ye be an ugly but fun mistress.

Then someone sent me the Einstein quote above. Theirs was the intention of curbing grief. Of course I turned it into thinking about grass. As all addicts do, everything becomes the object of the addiction.

Thinking. It's hard to do when the crew is at full force. When the ladies garden club needs more understanding of why we don't plant bare root stock in June. When the GM decides to move up the budget process to start during the invitational. In those instances you are just reacting. There is no good thinking in those moments.

And that's the problem. Reactive agronomy is our version of the 1-iron. You carry it in the bag and pull it out. You know you shouldn't. But situational thinking dares otherwise. There's that word. Thinking. And you pull back the knife in hope of pin high and get that result, two holes over.

In a lot of years of consulting with and general loving on supers with words and ideas, the words, "I think..." followed by some declaration are just plain danger signs.

Here's a short list of 'thinking' that may be perilous and need 're-thinking':

• "The latest research says X, Y and Z."  Yes. We all want that flavor of the month. But time and again, it takes a few cycles of study, some diligent field work in a few places before research catches the grove.

• "There isn't any research on that subject". Yeah well. That means it didn't get paid for. I've said it a zillion times, you must be doing some trials of your own. Period. And rejecting an idea because it didn't get published? Nah.

• "I heard so and so lost his ass using that product or doing that technique". You heard? From who? Really. You'd stop your own change process based on a rumor?

• "They've been around a long time, there's probably better". This pile of stinking thinking has caused dramatic hassles. A product or process that has weathered the street usually does so because it's damn good. The knock offs are just that.

• "I think I need something different". Yup and I need to paint a tunnel on a rock and watch you run headlong into it, Super Genius. I mean really? Really?  So often I'd ask someone why they changed and "needed something different" was the usual answer before the meeting as to "what the hell happened".

Thinking. I'm glad for it. I'm glad for analysis. I'm super stoked, for critical thinking today leads to better choices. I love the electronic age of idea sharing.

I'm not so excited about thinking that had lead to stories that don't and never will apply to you. That is a Turfhead Cesspool.

Here's one more quote:

"Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers." - Voltaire