For the most part of these past few weeks since I returned home from my Georgia trip with Barb, my life has been one where I’ve been swept away with the current. And, like any experienced ocean swimmer, I know the best way to get out of a rip current is to just swim along with it, parallel to the shore until it carries you back in to the beach. I suppose that’s where the expression, “to go with the flow” comes from.
There hasn’t been any one dramatic event directing my course, merely a series of events that have diverted my course as I had it planned resulting in an ever growing list of things I “need” to do. Let’s take yesterday for example.
My plan for the day was to head out to the gym first thing, meet with Lorenzo and then, fully energized, I would come home and tackle my household chores and maybe even surprise Dave with a batch of home-baked snickerdoodles. I would also take a look at the paperwork for the Virginia DCR Dam Grant and begin to put together an application for our HOA. Also topping my list is to contact a couple of the hotels in the Richmond area to check on possible group rates for Maggie’s wedding in September. It’s a pretty hefty chunk of work, but with enough energy and organization, completing it wouldn’t be that difficult.
The first sign that the day wouldn’t be as I’d hoped happened when Dave let Izzie, our calico, in the backdoor not long after she’d demanded to be let out. Dave asked her what she’d been up to and then called me to come take a look at her. Although it wasn’t raining, Izzie’s back was wet and mussed and along with a noticeable limp, she also had tufts of some other cat’s fur on her. Having been through this drill before, we were certain Izzie had been in a fight and if we found a wound, would have to go to the vet. Since she stopped for a bite at her bowl, I deemed the situation not an emergency and headed off to the gym.
My workout on Monday had been great but for some reason yesterday morning I felt really sluggish. Lorenzo pushed me hard, which is what I pay him for, but for the first time in a very long time I was physically unable to complete the workout he’d planned for me. That, along with a gain of almost two pounds had me leaving the gym significantly less peppy than I’d arrived. I hate it when that happens!
Once home I checked on Izzie. I found a bite on her back leg and made the call. A couple of hours later we were in the vet’s office where Izzie received a steroid shot and antibiotics and I received the bill. Dr. Godine and I had a nice chat about therapeutic laser treatments on soft tissue injuries. I learned that he was the Board Director of the North American Association of Laser Therapists. What an amazing little town I live in!
Anyway, back at the ranch, Dave was home when I arrived back with Izzie. He’d had is annual physical and was delighted that his cholesterol was below the medication necessary level but he was also in pain because he’d had to have a gnarly hemorrhoid excised for the second time this week. He announced he was under doctor’s orders to not sit or stand for prolonged periods of time and was to soak in the tub at least three times a day. Great. Also, the doctor had called a couple of prescriptions into the pharmacy at Walmart that I would need to pick up. So much for a clean house and wedding plans; at that point, I surrendered and began swimming parallel to the shore.
Today I have modified my plans. Dave is working from home nursing his “condition” and I am sort of working around him. While he was having a morning soak, I stripped the bed and vacuumed our bedroom. Clean sheets and carpet go a long way to make life more bearable, no matter how much clutter lurks downstairs.
Next I began to glance over the damn Dam Grant Application and was about to sit down with it until I looked outside and saw what a beautiful morning it is. Izzie was asking to be let out, so I grabbed my jacket and coffee and went with her. She likes to walk beside me as I review the progress of each new sprout and bud in the garden. She also likes to lead me up to the wooded area in the back where she hunts moles. That is how I ended up at my chat area. It was so inviting with the new gray table I added to the group of red chairs last week so I sat. The sun felt so good that I trotted back to the house for my laptop and IPad and decided to write for a while. For me, it has been the mental equivalent of floating on my back over the waves with my face upturned to the sun.
I know I won’t get my pile of stuff done before more gets piled on top, the grass keeps growing and the dust keeps falling. I also know that it’ll all get done; just not all in the same day.
So, in the meantime, I’m going to do my best to remember to stop and smell the flowers, watch and listen to the birds and feel the warmth of the sun on my face whenever I can. It may not remove the dust from my table tops, but it certainly removes it from my brain and that is most important!