I imagine myself in a hammock, rocked by gentle breezes, a cool drink at hand. Rather than getting comically twisted in the fabric, I’m cocooned. I feel a nap coming on. Yes, definitely a nap.
I often find myself oversubscribed with tasks and things I feel obliged to do. The condo meeting, volunteer work, the stack of library books. That home improvement project that declines in importance the closer I get to considering it, or the urge to explore summer events or new restaurants I’ve read about.
The potentially ambitious start to the day is a walk, but the rain drives us back inside. I do some overdue cleaning while rain drums on the skylight. Any ideas I had for galavanting and exploring are dissolving away, and the couch is calling to me. And what erudite diversion should I select? National Geographic? A PBS documentary? Oh no, People magazine.
Our Entertainment Weekly magazine subscription devolved into what we called Entertainment Sporadic until the publishers gave up the print version entirely. As recompense, they are now sending People magazine. So, what may have been a grocery store check-out line guilty pleasure is now squarely on our coffee table with shocking frequency. It is the emblem of my fallen standards, but somehow I can’t face the nearly six month backlog of National Geographic.
Instead of deepening my understanding of the climate impact on our forests, I am mesmerized by the photos of complete strangers who look like twins, and the identical twins who married identical twins and are now having what look like identical babies! The engagements and divorces of young actors I’ve never heard of, harrowing speculations about the Royals, and someone who was abducted by an internet predator.
It’s like a little vacation from regular life. I’m not thinking about inflation, or war, or the downward trajectory of my 401K. Maybe I’ll work up the energy to make one of the dishes in the back of the magazine, as long as I don’t have to shop for any new ingredients. Maybe this is the day for a carryout delivery. I’ll just lay here for a while longer and think about it.
Where Do We Go From Here? 