The Voyage
Right about this time last year I set sail for a voyage to a healthier life style for myself. I have extended my boarding pass and will continue on the trip. There have been a few more ports of call than I had anticipated but the good news is that I have not had to turn around and begin from my initial starting point. It’s got to be either this or better and I am on board for the better. As the voyage continues I find it is smoother sailing if I keep very busy.
For me being busy is not about being out and about amongst commotion. My busy is in the confines of my home. I love my home, all 720 square feet of it. That’s really not the entire picture as the basement is really the hub of my busy and the walk up attic is a treasure trove for storage. Years ago the young fellow that took my position at the county came by and he joked that he needed to keep his hands in his jacket so he would not ricochet off the walls or knock something off the wall. Oh that silly boy.
Sisters Elvira and Noreen with their Mother, Lena.
As I am not seen very often milling around town the question that I am asked usually skirts around the wondering as to what I could possibly find to do at home. It definitely makes a difference that I no longer get up at five to get laundry done and to get a heads up on supper preparation and then crash at nine thirty or ten at night to rest for the next day. Weekends flew by as many times I would go with hubby Dennis to a trade show where he would have tables to exhibit for buying, selling or trading firearms. My Mom living eighty miles away always took precedence whether it was a day of my vacation to help with doctor appointments or part of the weekend. After my Dad passed away, Mom’s wellbeing became my number one concern. I had a very close relationship with my Mother that will feed my soul for the rest of my life and I knew my Dad would have expected nothing less of me as Lena was his other half. My sister Elvera was right there to fill in when she would be in Hutchinson. My two brothers, Calvin and Michael, didn’t realize the small thing that meant so much to her or maybe did not have the patience for it. It is the mindset that it is the daughter’s place to do the care giving, but a mom gives 100 percent to sons and daughters alike. Turnaround is fair play. My brothers will never know how much they missed in Mom’s fragile years. Through my work years it never ceased to amaze me how fast the Monday mornings came. Longevity at the job allowed for vacation days to help out when granddaughter Megan was tiny, and even if the call came to my desk in the forenoon, I could juggle my job and take off for Eden Prairie even if it was for a day or two. If Carrie needed me I went. The work on the desk didn’t go away, but upon returning – and several days of going in early or working on a Saturday – made amends without working a hardship on the staff.
Some of the survival skills during the working years included gardening. It was so relaxing getting my fingers dirty even if it meant cleaning my hands with lemons before Monday morning. A few plants here and a few plants there made for a feeling that I had spent myself physically and let my weary inner being relax. I also can attest that when I was really weary and spent I made poor food choices and allowed the hangover of white sugar and flour to carry me with a dulled sensation to the next item on the schedule. This has been and still is what can cause my ship to run aground and prolong the voyage. It’s no different than someone that has a drinking problem. Admitting it and acknowledging it may be a start, but it doesn’t miraculously solve the problem.
Well, now, I have been away from the W-2 form job for just about 4 years. Several years ago my Mom joined my Dad and my son in heaven. Several years ago I broke it to Dennis that gun shows were not my bag and he would have to have a buddy go with him or do it solo. So what’s up with me having to extend my boarding pass on the voyage of my life? Hmm . . . big truth in life, Noreen, responsibility is just a part of everyday life and as some items are no longer a part of my day there seems to be more coming around the corner on a regular basis. I have controlled the starting point of my days with not having days that start at five, it’s more like eight with time to check out which one of the alley cats are at the food dish on the patio. Breakfast is by ten after I have fired up the laptop and checked on my people with perhaps the sound of a load of laundry whirring in the background. Any appointments that I need to make I try to have them set in the afternoon of the day. I have slowed up tremendously and love it. It took quite awhile for me to get it through my thick head that I could make choices as to how I would spend my days.
Oh yes, I am busy, busy in my home, but at a pace that feels ooh la la great. And – for me when my day does start – it is gang busters. As Carrie so well knows its head down and the head doesn’t come up until the task at hand is completed. When I worked for the county and the State of Minnesota would audit my market values for taxes in relationship to the actual sales and that level of comparison was called my “local effort” – it was what I was prepared to do at my desk to keep both sets of numbers comparable. Here at Stauffer Ave local effort – what it takes to keep hearth and home intact – comes before all else that is out in the world. The 720 square feet of home is very manageable so the really “fun and busy” takes place in my sewing and craft area in the basement. There is no chance to have a snack in my hand as God forbid if I would get a crumb or a stain on one of my projects. So there is the equation of a continued quest on the great Voyage and turning out some pretty fine projects. My life is very sweet and uncomplicated. I thank my Lord and Savior each night for the day that I have had as it had allowed me to think on my kids and travel the road of family memories the whole while feeling delight in the work that my hands are producing. More on the travel log will continue as this is a quest I will not give up on.
In life, please remember to give and have no memory of it, or take and remember it always.