There is a Family Circus cartoon by Bill Keane which perfectly fits what has been happening to me for three weeks. The cartoon shows a small boy sitting in an “easy chair’ and saying, “I think today will be a no nothing day. I did enough something yesterday. Wellsir, to use a colloquial expression, for at least three weeks now, I have been slammed. But, he interjects quickly, he knows that many of you could say the same, or almost the same, thing. Yessir, I have always known that we Americans get so caught up in “doing things” that we often forget to live.
Finally, a night ago, I finished a book I have been attempting to read for at least these last three weeks. It was a sorta thick book but in an ordinary week I could have finished it and watched TV. Oh, did you know you could finish a normal size book in a week just reading during the commercials? No need letting your mind go to waste trying to shut out the same pickup coming up from below the floor about 20 times an hour. Read some Mary Stewart or Terry Brooks instead of just yelling at the TV for having six minute commercials. (Yes, I timed “Big Bang Theory” and another program.)
Getting back to the main topic. There are so many distractions and things we absolutely have to do, we actually do not do everything correctly. You have known people who were always in a hurry and never seemed to slow down. So! Compare them to someone you know who goes about half that speed and seems to have extra time and yet, surprisingly to us A D D people, finishes whatever task is at hand. He/she also seems to enjoy being wherever they are and looks forward to doing the next thing. The next thing may be fishing or golf or cheering on some far off baseball team but to the organized person, they enjoy all of that.
You have probably had a boss who was a Type A and demanded more than people could deliver. Yessir, I have had a couple and even in my volunteer job I have one. As many of the demanding bosses are, they are so insecure they cannot slow down as their entire being thinks people will discover they know very little about what they are doing but if they bully everybody then they feel bigger. But, of course, they just succeed in alienating most people and end up getting less done. But I found myself getting caught up in things that really needed to get done. OK, in my life, that is. Even if the weather is not cooperating the bees are ready to start gathering and flying and buzzing. As you know, I do not do well in cold weather so after having summer days in February we have had some colder than normal days. I have waited some months to paint all my bee boxes and now it may be too late as it is time to catch swarms ( I HOPE!) or make splits.
Last week I did a bee program for a high school and it took a long time to get ready. During the winter the equipment finds new places to hide and secret itself away. That, of course, necessitates much searching and recriminations. I even washed my bee jacket and gloves. That brought on another problem. Ready? After I finished washing the gloves i stepped back from the sink and the kitchen floor was about a half-inch deep in water. I said something like, “Golly Gee!” The problem was a loose connection that decided to wait until I was the busiest to start leaking. Yessir, more time lost. Whoever decided to put this private high school in the place they did certainly picked a good spot. It is very difficult to find and get to and almost as hard to find your way back to civilization. Yessir, I enjoyed that program as i had written ahead that I wanted them to ask questions. They did and I answered. The teacher even complimented me afterwards. She then told me that most of the kids were A D D or even ADHD. I had figured that out but it would have been better had I known before i got there.
Getting all the equipment ready and the plumbing problem solved got me way behind on my book sorting. That and that the warehouse has sent over five fully loaded cart loads in five days. But Friday i did the most important job of all. I got to have my three year old hyper for almost the whole morning. Just him and just me. Some days are just a joy to be alive.