UMN Turf Research
Waiting and Preparing By: Dr. Eric Watkins, UMN
During December, I find myself reflecting on the year that has passed and anticipating the year to come. In the Christian tradition the four Sundays prior to Christmas are referred to as Advent. The church calendar reserves these weeks as times to wait and prepare. Waiting for Christmas, waiting for the deliverer promised thousands of years earlier. Preparing for what is to come. For most of us, we don’t want to wait. Where’s that pizza that was supposed to be here 48
five minutes ago? This line at the grocery store is taking forever! My Amazon order was supposed to be delivered already, it’s been almost a day! In a research program, particularly one like ours that aims to respond to the needs of an important and large stakeholder group, we can’t always figure things out quickly-sometimes the work we do takes years, or decades. Other times, we might be able to learn something in a short time, but what we discover doesn’t really