SLOW DANCE

Yesterday’s rain left puddles by the walk,

today’s began with explosive splashes

and ended as a mist in the trees.

The tall stump of willow I left standing

for carving a face stands unattended,

but I’ll get to that sometime, like

everything else in the meanderings of old age.

In fact, the whole yard is a neglected mess,

and so is my shop, filled with the things

I didn’t have time to put where they belong.

It is a sweet malaise to have such a wide

expanse of time with a thousand things to do,

but retirement has stolen the knot in my guts

and the pressure in my head. I breathe easy

and autumn has been warm this year.

The skeletal trees reveal vast pastures

of lush green on the Tennessee hillsides.

The Cardinals, Chickadees and occasional

Thrush or Tohee at my feeder dance

outside the window where I laze away

the hours not wasting a single minute.

Reviews

[Betty Hermelee]

It’s very interesting, we think that when we get “ old”, the days will pass slowly, but time has a way of creeping up on us and we realize how much has gone by and yet we still have plenty to accomplish…and we want to organize and tend to our chores…yet there are moments when we enjoy viewing nature and relaxing….taking in all that nature displays
A lovely write, enjoyed it
Warmly, B

[Vol]

Thank you, Betty,
I find time to be the most mysterious of all concepts. I have always longed to visit Great Britain, but never had the time or money... it was always "Someday." I turn seventy-five next month. SEVENTY-FIVE!!! I'm finding "someday" must find its friend "soon," or else...
Vol

[Betty Hermelee]

Great Britain is very diverse and beautiful, been many times...it's not too late for you!!
A pleasure to read....
Warmly, B

[Vol]

Betty, once again this site does not want me to see the "read more" bits... sigh

[Stella Armour]

The days seem just as full at times simply because it takes so long to do the chores.
But then the chores are not so urgent now anyway and we can do them as when we please leaving time for the enjoyable things we never had time to do before

[Vol]

Stella,
Time spent absent the stresses of everyday business is precious... But I have no idea how I took care of chores while I had to go to work every day. They seem so time consuming now...
Vol

[Stella Armour]

I know , i also wonder how i ever coped with looking after children and working , but there we are....
Maybe we don't have so much adrenaline as we get older and the drive to keep going at pace lessens ?

[Vol]

I know, right?

[Stella Armour]

You know, i think we spend more time now thinking than doing lol

[Vol]

It is the more valuable pursuit...

[Vol]

It is the more valuable pursuit...

[Stella Armour]

probably so ....

[DIVYA]

I see the beauty in the disarray. there's no timeline, no deadline to finish this or that. There's no tightness to the day, there are no lines set firmly and there's much room to meander, wander, linger. You're so busy being not busy! And if this is a bird's eye view of retirement, I'm all for it! These are not called the golden years for nothing. One earns them and relishes them when one truly deserves them. Savor them, cherish them, enjoy each one of them to the fullest, from dawn to dusk! Precious!

[Vol]

Divya,
Always the sensualist!
My American blood and training was always a file on my teeth, "Any time not spent being busy is wasted." I've learned that recovering from the past and storing up for the future is as valuable a usage of time as can be imagined.
Vol

[DIVYA]

I often wonder, how I'll fill my days, once I retire. Reading this kind of assures me, they'll be so much to enjoy, feel and do. And yes, reconnect with the past, in new ways...

[Vol]

It is not always bliss, especially on a retired teacher's pension... hahaha, but EVERYTHING is perception and attitude.
Vol

[Poetic Beauty]

I work a lot and don’t have much time but when warm I sit outside before work and especially after work enjoy nature and the time I do have.

I love the laying about simply enjoying the moment and not worry about getting things done.

[Vol]

PB!
I enjoy your commentary because I too feel that sensual enjoyment, whether letting a bit of chocolate melt slowly on my tongue, stand in a cool breeze under a hot sun, allowing the burn of salt water into my eyes, contemplating some sweet shade of blue, or dry skin against other cool, dry skin are how life is lived... everything else is just distraction from the true awareness of being alive...
Vol

[Poetic Beauty]

Work is definitely a distraction lol

[Vol]

I know, right? When Western Civilization was primarily agrarian, people did not work for money, they worked directily for the theings they needed. When you wanted a shirt, the began by catching the sheep, or raising linen, maybe killing some hapless animal already rearing a future pair of pants... Want bread? raise wheat, need plyers? visit the blacksmith. I'm not sure the psychological effect of cutting money out of the loop, but I'd expect people could see the immediate effects of their labor... they laid hands on everything they needed from its inception to its completion... cut down a tree, split the wood, make a table from the pieces, put it in the cave, and eat off it. Along the way, there was a certain human nobility that came with being self-sufficient. The Industrial revolution robbed us of that in exchange for powered lawnmowers, air conditioning, and the military industrial complex. No wonder we are distracted from the best life has to offer...

[John the Baptist]

Thanks, Vol. Now I don't feel so bad about my garage. New life forms may be evolving there.

[Vol]

John,
Garage? OMG! I forgot about my damn garage! Well, the less said about that... I think garages are the linguistic source of the word "procrastinate." And such a beautiful word it is....
Vol