Simple Life

The last few days have been, to say the least, eye opening. The weather has been very strange with temperatures up and down. The other day, I decided that  I needed to either get the mowing done, or wait a little longer and have someone bale my yard. So I headed out, and after changing the oil in the riding mower, the push mower, and the ATV, and changing the blade on the push mower, I headed out to tackle the mowing. With my thermal undershirt, my sweatsift, and jacket (as the weather is definitely on crack and it was very cold outside), I started the long procedure of mowing my yard. This task takes about 3 hours, as my yard is very large. But it is a task I do enjoy. I could hire it out to be done, but than I wouldn't have that time to consider what I still need to do or daydream of what I want to do in the future, or reflect on the past. If I paid someone to do this, that would be a shame. Because I wouldn't get to enjoy one of  the simple pleasures in life.
In this world, we are all about rush, rush, rush, and fast, fast, fast. We have the fastest computers (where we sit and play games), the fastest cars, and the best cell phones. We have DVRs to record the programs we would watch, if we had the time, and plan to watch them later, but seldom do. We eat fast food, and hurry around so much that we can't enjoy what we have. And we work more hours to pay for the things we think we need to allow us to enjoy, which we can't seem to do because we are working to pay for all the things we think we need.
I live a simple life. No designer jeans or shoes in my closet. No fancy car in the garage, and my purse was purchased in 1997 and is the only one I own. I work enough to pay my bills, buy my tech toys, and spoil my grandkids.  For me, this all isn't new, it started many years ago.
Growing up, supper was eaten as a family, all together. No cell phones or radios, no MP3 players or IPods, and definitely no television. We all gathered around the table and...wait for it....talked. About the day, and how school was, and what was planned for the next day. And if you didn't like what was on the table, you did without. No fast food or carry out. There was meat and potatoes and veggies, and dessert like pudding or ice cream. When we were told it was time to go play, that didn't mean sitting in front of a computer, or watching television, we were not in our rooms with the radio blaring and chatting on the phone. We went outside. To ride our bikes, or play catch, or climb a tree. Saturday I managed to get my chores done as fast as possible and than headed out to the pond, with a book in hand, a fishing pole, and sometimes even the worms, to spend the day reading, and dreaming, and maybe even fishing a little bit. Hanging around the house meant housework, and that I tried to avoid. You hoped it didn't rain on Saturday, because that would mean staying inside, and avoiding the housework was harder. Than Grandma would mop the floor, and that would require sitting in the same chair forever, at least 20 minutes, and one didn't dare put a mark on Grandma's wet floor.
Saturday's during summer meant a visit to town, and the local library. With eyes wide open, you would enter the world where everything was possible. Walking up and down the aisles, you selected the maximum number of books allowed, and carried them home, ready to start that new adventure, which you finished on Sunday night and than had to wait for another whole week (until they realized how much you loved reading and let you take out three times as many books, which of course you finished before the end of the week.) The adventures you could take inside those books, well it was incredible. There wasn't a lot of money or material things, but there was love, and food, and belonging, and knowing that someone would always care.
Fast forward to today. I no longer go to the pond to escape housework, that is my job now. But I do go there to feed my fish, and enjoy watching them feed. I listen to the turkeys roosting in the trees. I stand at my dining room door and watch the baby deer playing while Mommy is watching close near-by. I go out late at night and sit on my deck, and listen to the sounds of night...the coyotes howling, the frogs croaking, and watch the bats flying around. And don't feel afraid. I watch the early morning sun breaking over the treeline, and enjoy the brilliant colors in the sky.
And as I continue to mow my yard, I take in the smell of fresh cut grass, look at the flowers growing in the flowerbeds and showing their onset of color. I see the trees budding and starting to put on leaves, as everything becomes green and new again. I pass the fruit vines and notice them starting to bud and wonder if there will be enough fruit to enjoy this year. I know that in a few months even mowing will get to be a chore, but for now it is a pleasure. And I thank God that I am able to enjoy this simple life.