The Blessing of Doing…well…Nothing

The last day of July.  I don’t want it to end.  I mean….I LOVE August…but I don’t want August to end so I don’t want it to begin.  I want to stay right here in July relishing the anticipation of August.  June 30. The summer was so full of promise and expectation.  The excitement of slower days and slower living. the opportunity to lollygag my way through a couple of months. And lollygag, I’ve done.  Well except for the two bakery days I held in my front yard. July 1 and July 31.   When I hatched this idea in the spring I thought I would do it every week.  HA.  Jokes on me.  It’s a lot more work than I thought.  Maybe I’m doing it the wrong way?  or maybe I just realized I didn’t want to spend my entire summer vacation working.  Once again I am blessed to be working at a school and have the summer off.  Of course all my friends joke (even my colleagues) about my pretend job.  13 hours a week. But hey,  it really takes up 3 days of my week.  So I have a super long weekend every week but the days I do work I consider work days and usually don’t get much else done on those days due to exhaustion.   And I certainly don’t want to spend the summer working more than I do during the year.   All that to say…..I’m as light headed as a school kid when summer vacation rolls around.
I was anticipating a stay-cation but serendipity had me on a plane East to visit, bond and discuss health issues with my siblings and that was good use of 11 days of July.  My garden has turned into a tropical rain forest aka jungle and I love it.  With the added initiative of adult children living at home it was set in motion and now I nurture it.  Adult kids don’t have time to water plants.  But I do.  I can’t wait to get up in the morning and take a little meander in my secret garden. See what has sprouted overnight.  Deadhead things to keep them fresh looking.  ooh and awe over the variety and the colors.  I can see clearly in my mind the stark emptiness of winter in the backyard and am totally astounded at the evolution to green that takes place. A tropical paradise.  So some afternoons I just sit out there with a cool beverage and slide off my sandals so my toes can commune with the grass (I think it’s called grounding these days). The sound of the aspen leaves swaying in the breeze is a pleasant lullaby to fall asleep to.  It’s all fun and games until a wasp starts hovering. Back in the house for me. I have plenty to do inside  Paint.  Read.  Write. Stitch. Knit. Bake. Cook. or lazy in my favorite comfy chair and play with my phone (which happens more often than not).  I’m not apologizing.  I’m on summer vacation.
July has not disappointed.  And now comes ‘even slower living’ August.  I have plans.  Plans to do as much of nothing as I can.  Since I am considered a senior now….I can slow down and get away with it.  No one expects too much of me (except myself).  If I could just get her off my back, I’d be free as a bird.  Sometimes I feel guilty lounging in bed while my husband is getting ready for work …but not too often.  Why spoil a good summer feeling guilty?  I still keep the house clean (sort of) and do the laundry and buy the food and sometimes I even cook it. Water the plants.  Walk the dog. And find things for people.  I have four other adults living here and no one can find anything. Am I right?
Often I look around and wonder….what am I doing with all this stuff but now is not the time to figure out what I am going to do about it. No siree. I am not planning on spending August purging and organizing.  There will be plenty of time in the fall for that.  And maybe I’ll still think of a way to get out of it.  The great thing about procrastination is that you never have anything to do today and you always have something to do tomorrow.  So I’m going now to spend my last evening of July lapping up the spirit of relaxation and vacation so that I am fully prepared for doing nothing in August.