Just a little more than usual
I’d like to learn how to make bread. I’ve watched my wife do it many times, but have never tried it myself. It’s an art, of sorts, and a commitment.
Falafal would be on the To Do list. Sometimes I think it would be nice to have a general familiarity with the Mediterranean diet and various spice palates, be able to whip up a tasty meal at a moment’s notice, but I’ve never felt inclined to invest the time.
I think I could live on stews and soups.
Dogs, though cats are less labor intensive and lead a more autonomous existence. As I was once reminded, they’ve been domesticated for about half as long as dogs, and it shows sometimes. And, at least in this neck of the woods, we don’t have to worry about feral dogs.
Writing, listening to music, watching a good TV show or movie, reading, sometimes working outside. Quite a while ago, I once sat at the piano for three hours and remember marveling over having been there playing away for all that time.
Water in our basement is bothering me. Water doesn’t belong in basements. We had over 4 inches of rain in about 3 hours yesterday, and the saturated ground revealed some shortcomings in our foundation’s capacity for repelling water. In the larger scheme of things, it’s a mere flesh wound compared with what’s been happening in other places around the country and world, but it’s still a pain to deal with.
And of course the ongoing follies and painful reality of the current presidential administration is an ongoing dark cloud. Washington hasn’t seen such crass ineptitude and evil intent since, well, the first go ’round five-plus years ago.
The sun will rise and set.
Humans will continue to be brilliant and short-sighted in varying measures for the foreseeable future.
In the absence of love, we suffer.
Time is a construct.
Clean drinking water is a necessity.
There’s no need for all the food prep shows.
The universe is huge.
We don’t all share the same musical tastes.
More isn’t necessarily better.
The earth will survive our gluttony and mismanagement, but we won’t.
Yes.
Security, and adventure on my terms. I don’t need to be scaling a sheer cliff or swimming with Great Whites in order to have a good day. I’m definitely not an adrenaline junkie, never have been. I feel plenty alive most days just tending to yard work, playing with the grandkids, or taking a walk with my wife. I consider the 26 years I spent as a pastor the adventure years, since I lived most every day so far out of my comfort zone.
Kind of boring, I guess.
Assuming this would be a meal hosted by my wife and I, I would invite our siblings and spouses, kids and spouses and grandchildren, a few college friends, Paul McCartney, Bobby Orr, Billy Joel, Pete Buttigieg, Desi Lydic, Rachel Maddow, Paul Simon, Bill Nye, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Greta Thunberg, David Brooks, Jonathan Capehart, Amna Nawaz, Geoff Bennet, and the cast from The Big Bang Theory. It’d be a catered buffet at a local community center.
Certain relationships, one’s appreciation for being alive, i.e. slowing down and savoring a moment. Maybe you stop worrying so much about some things, while other things emerge– the sand in the hourglass dynamic helps one clarify, become more proficient at prioritizing, saying no and saying yes. Relationships move up the list in importance, and maybe the need to keep up with the Joneses fades– because that was always an unwinnable rat race, anyway.
Maybe as one ages, one gets better at discerning what’s real, what feeds the soul.
Normally a 10pm bedtime, or thereabouts, and I get up at 5am. Sometimes I hit the hay earlier, but I have a bad habit of donning headphones and listening to and watching YouTube music clips.
My first thought was spending time with the grandchildren and watching them grow. But then I remembered who’s President and the ghastly crew he has around him, and that excitement gets tempered quickly. Maybe what I’m most curious about– not necessarily excited– is seeing if people awaken in time to the disaster in progress.
3 Cents' 