Do Nothing

It's hard for me to do nothing. I like to be busy. Like many people I only feel worthy to live if I'm busy. We all need more nothing moments. A nothing moment could be a time for meditation and reflection. Many books on aging suggest meditation as a stress reliever. Being still can have youthful benefits. Our mind and body will thank us. My mother bought me some chairs to sit on my front porch. "I'll buy these chairs," she said, "if you promise to sit in them." I've only kept my promise a few times. Sometimes I long for the good old days when neighbors had time to sit on the porch and visit. It would have been easier to live in a simpler time; yet the only thing keeping me from doing nothing is myself. A voice in my head keeps whipping me and saying, "Get busy." I'll silence that little voice and be still. My chair's waiting.

SEPTEMBER HARVEST

Thirty-eight years ago I became a bride. Like many newlyweds we were poor and idealistic, a struggling student and a brand-new teacher. We drove a VW bug, feasted on beans, and lived in a tiny basement apartment. For awhile we shared our home with some mice; one night be trapped ten. During the next five tough happy years we moved five times, including an extended stay in Tunis, Tunisia, with our infant son, David. Back to America and life assumed a normal routine: more work, more children, more work. On September 4th we gathered our harvest of six children, with four spouses and five grandchildren. As I see our married children with their little families, I want them to experience this same joy someday. So what would be my advice? Be flexible, be friendly, be forgiving. Then watch the green apples ripen into gold.