A few thoughts from the past week.
A pleasant walk is such a joy
It’s a Saturday afternoon, and I’ve been indoors all day after several days of bad weather. I decide to go out on my new usual walk–not too long, but it gets me outside and moving.
I go past my neighbors, cross a busy street, then inspect my closest Little Free Library. One of my recent donations is still there, but several more are gone. There is a little room for one more book, if I want to offload it with a walk tomorrow morning.
I turn the corner, and pass a house with some fruit trees. The apples are coming along (I don’t remember this tree fruiting before), and the plums are plentiful, though resolutely green. I forget when they will turn that lovely purple that lets me know they are ready to sample.
Turn the corner again and I am going downhill and will soon be home. I love having my routine walk. I also love going on walking adventures. It’s all good once I finally go on my walk.
Dreams deferred
Earlier in the day, I was tidying my bedside table, and came across an interesting list. On the left was a list of trips I had planned for 2020 and was dreaming of for 2021. On the right was my portfolio of frequent flyer miles, hotel points, etc.
Four months into the pandemic, with all those trips canceled, this paper looks so quaint. I feel like looking back in time and saying “isn’t that cute! You had no worries about traveling.”
Also I feel sad.
Herculean efforts versus tiny steps
At the end of my long time at home, I am looking around my home office.
It was a mess the day my husband went into the hospital.
In the past, I would look at such a mess and cringe. Eventually, I would get fed up and spend 1 or 2 days–long and painful days–and make it better. Maybe. Though there might be new messes elsewhere in the house as I moved stuff around and never found a home for it.
Instead, every day during my time off, I set a timer and cleared out items for 15 to 20 minutes every day. I had the luxury of doing that every day, with my hectic work schedule on hold. It didn’t get in the way of caring for Mr. PiN, who napped a lot every afternoon anyway. Those 15 to 20 minute sessions didn’t last long, but over several weeks, this translated into 4 to 8 hours of concentrated progress.
My office looks ever so much better these days.