The Days Are Long

 

                                    Deep autumn— 

                                   my neighbor, how does he live, 

                                   I wonder.

                                                            -Basho: 1694

 

Every so often, I think about this haiku and join Basho in wondering, “What do people do all day?” Especially my retired friends. Any reader of these blogs knows that I lead a fairly active and busy life, but sometimes, like today, I ask myself —“How am I going to fill up the time?” E-mails down to two or three, bills paid, preparations for upcoming trips mostly made, finished playing through all 48 Bach Preludes and Fugues (though, of course, far from mastering them) and generally not much on my “to-do” list. Add to that a recurring spell of mild to medium dizziness, unappetizing weather to go out walking in and I’ve just been ambling aimlessly around the house. Lay down and finished a book, which led to a rare early afternoon nap, got up and talked to a friend in Canada on Facetime and kept looking at the clock— “Is it close to dinnertime yet?” Indeed, that sense of “How much more time in the day? Let’s move it along here!”

 

Normally, I would food shop today, but way too early on Monday morning, I go to the airport for the annual Orff Conference and so my wife wisely chose to shop for her own meals this coming week. When she returned, she suggested we do a thorough cleaning of the refrigerator. Without a single “I’m busy!” excuse, I lent a hand and that accounted for about 45 minutes that felt mildly fun and usefully satisfying. But it’s still only 4:15! Took a shower, got dressed, thought about Basho’s poem and decided that I might as well write today’s post, boring as it is.

 

But perhaps you can relate or it brings some comfort to know that I, perhaps like you, am sometimes at loose and wonder what to do with myself. That we all understand the “years are short” half of the saying (see recent post Sunrise, Sunset), but also share that sensation at times, the hours of the day are dragging on and on, the minutes dripping ever so slowly— and not in a good way where you peacefully savor them. 

 

Well, this brings me to 4:44. Maybe I’ll just lie down and read a bit more.