Furlough, No Dough

Today was one of two county mandated furlough days. I had the house to myself from 8:30-2:30. It was heavenly, though over in a flash. I used the time to do some editing of my writings and a jazillion other things, it seems. It is amazing what you plan to do with the time alloted only to watch it tick away faster than you can work.

It is a parallel to life, I think, as you age. Stuart Briscoe, pastor of our church said yesterday that since we have technically 70 years on earth, that means we peak at 35 and then it's all downhill, gaining speed all the time. That is how it feels at the moment. I'm in front of the boulder called life and it's gaining on me. Faster, faster, run faster.

I did get some clarity on the structure of my BWCA memoir after class last week. I was floundering with how to organize the various stories, etc., and as I was laying there trying to get to sleep, it all kind of came together for me. These moments of clarity are a welcome thing these days. I welcome them with open arms.

So the Vikings are in the NFC Championship again. I don't want to say a thing positively or negatively until I see the outcome of Sunday's game, so I'll leave it at that.

The reality of the Haiti earthquake is devastating. I showed Donna a picture of a garage with cars smashed by a fallen ceiling, and I said to her, this is why we need to hold on loosely to material things, and spend more time loving each other and our kids.

I'll leave you with a poem.

Mission Accomplished

His usefulness was used up
The government encouraged him to stop
Society demanded he stop
Because, evidently his time was up

He didn’t feel old, or used up
He felt like he was still useful
But his employer said no, you’re not
AARP agreed loudly, in a junk mailed letter

So he quit being ‘productive’
And turned to loving his grandkids
He volunteered at the food pantry
And helped his son paint his house

He lost some weight
And went to church more
Took time to listen to his wife
And stopped getting depressed on Sunday nights

There were days he missed his job
When he wished he could be more useful
What he didn’t realize was
He wasn’t of much use…until now

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