The Joys of Doing Nothing

     I know we all urge one another to volunteer in retirement, or take a part-time job, or attend a class, travel to an exotic locale, babysit the grandchildren -- to do something "meaningful." And I'm on board with that whole philosophy. For the most part.

     But sometimes, just sometimes, it's nice to relax and do . . . absolutely nothing.

     The other day we had some family visiting -- they stayed overnight on their way home from western Pennsylvania to Massachusetts. There was talk of taking a bike ride, hiking up at the park, or walking into town to go to the movies. But we ended up just sitting in the living room and gossiping . . . talking and catching up on news from one family member or another. The big event of the day was going out for pizza.

Mostly, I've been staring out the window

     Yesterday, after they left, I puttered around the yard for an hour or so -- which is a lot for me, since our yard is about 1/16th of an acre. Then I came in to shower, and I finished reading my book . . . leading up to the main event of the day, for me, which was driving over to the library to drop off the book and pick up a new one.

     As you might imagine, I was pretty exhausted after trekking across town to the library. So I watched two episodes of Boardwalk Empire -- which I've been kind of binge watching since I found it on amazon prime. If you didn't see the show when it was originally on HBO, I highly recommend it -- but only to people who can take a little nudity and a lot of violence. (B isn't interested.) Or to put in another way: If you liked Breaking Bad, I think you'd like Boardwalk Empire.

     Oh wait. I forgot my main productive activity from yesterday. I did a load of laundry. You see? Sometimes I underestimate myself.

     But on a more serious note, I did one other thing: We talked to our daughter in North Carolina and our son in South Carolina. Both are getting lots of rain and a little wind. But they're both surviving Florence with no damage.

     So anyway . . . today? I'm on my second cup of coffee, with plans to start reading my new book. And while I admit I've been lazy for the past few days, today I have an excuse. We're expecting a delivery, sometime around mid-day. Well, I can't very well go out and do anything "meaningful" because my job is now to sit around the house and do nothing . . . wait for an important rendezvous.

     Okay, next week B and I will start teaching our class at the local Center for Learning in Retirement. I'm joining a book club. And B and I have signed up for our next round of dance lessons, which begin on Wednesday.

     But in the meantime, I'll be searching for meaning while sitting in a chair, or poking around the backyard. Or "strolling" along the boardwalk of Atlantic City.