A Day in the Life...

I loved the relaxed quality of my days, post-work. I still get up pretty early (cannot break the habit), read the paper, do the crossword puzzle, walk the dogs, go to the gym or pool, then off to class. I give myself time to read, to draw, to see movies, to loaf around. I do some volunteer work. I see some friends. I watch the birds, talk to the plants, take long walks. My health has been terrific. I still struggle with feeling guilty for not doing something

Valuable

but I’m getting better at allowing whatever I am doing to be valued, at least by me – and it is slowly working.

Poem: "idle thought" by Don Marquis from Archyology: the long lost tales of archy and mehitabel. © University Press of New England.

idle thought

paris september
fifth nineteen
twenty three
what i like
about this place
is that it is
such a nice
place to loaf in
and loafing
is the best thing
in life
nature shows
us that
a caterpillar
just eats and
loafs and sleeps
and after a while
without any effort
it turns into
a butterfly
with nothing to do
but flit around
and be beautiful
but consider
the industrious
tumble bug
the tumble bug
toils and plants
and sweats
and worries
pushing its burden
up hill forever
like sisyphus
and pretty soon
some one
comes along
and thinks how
vulgar and ugly
the thing is
and steps on it
and squashes it
idleness
and beauty
are their own
rewards
mehitabel the cat
is still missing