THE BUG MAN

177 – Friday. June 26, 2009 Pestilent intruders beware! Our annual treatment for pests of all varieties including termites was performed by Richard, a semi-retired worker who assists our contract agent for pest control during his busiest times, a family friend of nearly a decade. At the conclusion of his service, Richard was going over all the areas he had serviced and what he had done when he offered a genuine compliment to Cynthia for how clean her house is – recognition of her steady attention to every aspect of home management which she richly deserves. He observed he has seen plenty of homes and few are as clean as hers, more like the old days. Our conversations drifted more toward days gone by and how there were lesser amenities to serve our predecessors and yet they seemed to accomplish feats we find impossible today – growing their own produce, harvesting, canning and preserving, making bread and biscuits from scratch ingredients, long discussions on short porches, family intimacy and so on. I posed the question of where they always found the time – Richard’s response sobered me – without hesitation he said the reason was that they did not attempt to do so many things. I had to pause a moment to think about what he meant, given the context of our discussion, talking about how they accomplished so much. It finally made sense, however! We gad about, scurrying to wedge half-a-dozen activities into the time span our ancestors used for only one thing. We use even more of our potential intimate time gazing at a rectangular color projector whose main function is to divert time we once spent sharing thoughts with each other about every topic that might be socially acceptable on that short porch. He was right – my mother always reminds me to smell the roses – I am doing more of that these days! If I am appreciative to Cynthia for one thing regarding her New Year’s challenge for me to write a daily blog it is for the fact that doing so has forced me to slow down – attempt less – observe more – complain less – live more, and for that I shall be eternally grateful!

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