I found myself watching Captain Reynold's series over the weekend and this just stuck out to me:
"After the Earth was used up, we found a new solar system and hundreds of new Earths were terraformed and colonized. The central planets formed the Alliance and decided all the planets had to join under their rule. There was some disagreement on that point. After the War, many of the Independents who had fought and lost drifted to the edges of the system, far from Alliance control. Out here, people struggled to get by with the most basic technologies; a ship would bring you work, a gun would help you keep it. A captain's goal was simple: find a crew, find a job, keep flying."
Keep flying. I think there's so much contained within those two words. It's not just about keeping the ship up in the air and running. It's about taking care of your crew, assessing risks and acting in the best interests of the crew. A ship without her crew is nothing. She won't fly herself.
I've been spending a lot of time out at the ranch. It's been useful, to just focus on that. There really is nothing like hard labor to clear your mind of things. I suppose that's why we push the cadets so hard at the beginning. It allows you to focus. And really, when you slip in mud (or manure), it certainly jerks you out of your thoughts. And a week of mucking out stalls and remembering that no titles or ranks get you out of that can be a good thing. It's useful to settle down into the rhythm of the ranch again. (It doesn't hurt that the past few nights have been gorgeously clear and there's something about just staring up at the vastness of the stars (and what lies beyond) is incredibly calming.)
I've set up a workspace there - well, two. One where I can work on writing my history (histories?) of Starfleet - and I still need some more collaboration on that to make sure it's a well-balanced approach because I don't want this to just be one Captain's perception. - and the other as more of a tinker space. Mal had talked about getting Kaylee's copter up in the air and I haven't devoted much time to working on it. It's a bit of 'ancient' technology, coming from my time, but I've found some manuals, and it'll be an interesting challenge.