get the lead out - part VI

I've returned from a wonderful weekend with my parents. They took such good care of me, I think I just may go back. I am glad to know they enjoyed the weekend as much as I did.

So after a break, I return to making a living or making a life.

This phrase sounds cliché. I think most people understand it. Yet, over the years I’ve gotten so far afield from the objective that I didn’t even notice. I think it’s easy to accept that “the way things are” is the best it’s going to get, rather than confront the reasons why things aren’t better. After 8 years of putting lots of energy into making the best of a bad situation, I realize how little I’ve ended up with and how differently I could be doing things.

I blame the Bush Administration.

I’ll tell you what I’ve discovered this year. I like surprising a fox or a rabbit or a bird on the nest. I like hearing an unfamiliar noise, standing still and waiting for it to reveal itself. I like not being able to see something at first because it is so highly camouflaged, then seeing it come into focus because I was patient enough. I like falling into creeks and coming out a little scraped up. I like not knowing what I’ll see, but knowing I’ll see something.

I like getting a D-minus in tomato growing one year to get a C-minus the next year. I like adopting the scientific method in the preparation of the perfect suet cake. I like capturing blurry images of wings on camera, then getting better with practice. I like learning what I do not know.

To some people who know me, this may seem out of character. Why is that? It’s the same thing with my writing and my interview with the painter. They have no idea because I work, I come home, I take care of the house, I prepare for a new day at work. I have driven hobbies and interests out of my life, dismissing them as superfluous.

But now, particularly after the summer I’ve had, when my friends call me, they often begin the conversation with “what trail were you on this weekend?” I like that. I like it a lot.

So do you want to hear a little more about my store?

--Laura