Life has been considerably normal down Highway 20. Almost too normal in fact, because if nothing of great interest happens, what is there to write about? I’m the type of person that loves life. So much in fact, that one life is entirely too short to do all the things that are calling me to do them.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing the matter with doing the laundry, making meals, scrubbing floors, weeding the flowerbeds, and working in the shop. I enjoy the everyday tasks. But do you realize, how big the world is? How many thousands of fascinating cities are waiting for me to explore? And how many charming restaurants and brand-new foods are waiting to be tried out? How many beautiful tree-swept mountains are waiting to be climbed? How many winding trails are waiting to be discovered? Dozens of waterfalls, canyons, and rivers.. A world full of beauty and adventure.
Life passes too quickly to eat the same foods each day and to see the same scenery over and over again. But, of course, adventures don’t have to be exotic, far-away, and expensive. How many tiny towns, homey cafes with down-to-earth people, beautiful scenery, amazing sights, and new foods at the grocery store lay within a 300-mile radius of me and could be happened upon and enjoyed?
Can you tell that I’m feeling a bit cooped up? Last Sunday Ross must have caught my fever; we abruptly hopped in the pickup and drove around, exploring little back roads, discovering farms, ranches, an old truck graveyard. Must have seen 15 or more “359” Peterbilts in various stages of rust.
Back home as the weather would have it, last week we were planning to lay down our alfalfa, happened to be the rainiest week ever. Joys of farming, I believe.
After a few days of showers and semi-continuous drizzling, everything seems to be perking up and growing with leaps. (Including the weeds.)
We have been spending time in the shop, filling our hours with bondo-work, much sanding, cleaning, painting, and such.
My office is also a fine place to listen to the rain spatter on the panes. Keeping up with the bookwork is a much-dreamed of situation but seldom reality.
It’s one of of those things where the thought of tackling the project is much worse than the actual tackling. Strange how powerful our minds can be if we let them. Mine can talk me right out of filing my knee-high stack of paperwork real quickly.
But among the day-to-day living, I’ve been trying to find bits of adventure and random fun.
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all. -Oscar Wilde
I am a great believer of spontaneous behavior. If all of life is planned out and followed in routinely fashion, how entirely boring it would be. Life is short, do all the fun things you can think of!
For example, why mow your lawn in perfectly straight rows each time? How about, just once, imagine you are following Highway 191 through Glen Canyon, Arizona and drive your Craftman mower accordingly.
Or how about, in a random burst of dieting inspiration, whip up a perfectly green smoothie at midnight while chatting on the phone with your best friend.
Try buttered popcorn and watermelon in bed, a candlelit room, and a special someone to share the impromptu date with.
How about, just for today, you comb your hair in a way you have never tried before and put on brightly colored mismatched socks, just because.
Invite spur-of-the-moment company, or eat breakfast for lunch, or add a new ingredient to an old faithful recipe.
The next time you go to town on errands, sneak your roller blades along and spend half an hour breezing down the sidewalks among lush green grass.
The man I am married to has moments of spontaneity as well. One day we drove to the nearby city to get painting supplies for a truck project and came home with a pickup. I never know what a day will bring.
But no matter where your life takes you, no matter what your duties consist of, enjoy your own particular life to the fullest. You only get one. So why not make the very most of every minute?