No Patience for Bored

I have no patience for being bored.  Being bored is boring!!  Therefore I figure out something to do.  A friend invited me to a buffet and concert.  She was going because the daughter of a friend of hers was in the concert.  My friend assured me it would be a good evening – good food, good music and good company.  Since we had not done anything together for some time, it seemed like a good idea.  It would be a time for us to visit and be entertained at the same time. 

So we went.  The food was good and we had a nice time catching up with the lives of each other.  Then we went to a big auditorium that had a proper stage and curtains.  The room would hold about 150 people and it was ¾ filled.  As I sat down I began to have a sinking feeling.  I am a retired elementary school teacher. Therefore I have been to more children’s concerts that you can count.  I taught for 25 years and went to school concerts, my son was in concerts, and the grandkids have been in concerts. In my retirement years a children’s concert is not high on my list of things to do (unless of course it involved family or friends). 

The concert started and I thought that it was wonderful for the parents and families, to me it was just boring.  I made excuses - it’ll get better, they’re just starting or maybe they’re just nervous.  It didn’t get better.  So it was grin and bear it for me.  I had my camera with me so I took pictures, without the flash – up stage, down stage, right stage, left stage, the performers and anything else I could think of.  Finally I ran out of ideas and sat for a few minutes trying to decide what I could do besides just sitting.  Then I saw the bald head of the man sitting in front of me.  He had some hair on the sides and top and the bit of hair was sticking out - this way and that way.  I spent the rest of the concert being thoroughly challenged by photographing his head.  I composed different pictures to get the hair going different ways.  That poor man had no idea he was my entertainment for the evening. 

When I was growing up, it was expected that I would entertain myself.  My parents did not think it was their job to make sure all my time was scheduled.  It was my job to keep myself occupied and if I should complain I was told I had one minute to find something to do or they would find something for me to do.  I knew their idea of something to do was work: like dust the living room, hoe the garden, wash the dishes or some other terrible chore.

I grew up with the idea that it was my job to keep myself busy and so it has been all my life.  People who say they have nothing to do or they are bored puzzle me.  I really can’t understand.  The world is full of things to do. 

Now the other point of view is that my house is a mess.  It is filled with projects in different stages of progress.  This doesn’t bother me but to others it says, “Mary is a bad housekeeper”.  That does bother me so I keep trying to keep some order.  It is in order according to me but not to anybody else.  When I go to visit friends and their houses are immaculate – - I’m amazed.  How can they live in a place like that.  There’s not a place to do things.  I also notice that they are quite happy and want it to look like that and spend much time making sure it looks like that.  Ahh, there’s the difference.  Instead of cleaning, I get involved in a project and am totally engrossed in whatever I’m doing.  Creating fills my soul, it is therapy for me.  I’m expecting a fairy godmother to come along and keep the house decent.  Notice, I’m still waiting.  I made a sign for my study.  It says:

If

You came to see me,

Come on in and sit a spell.

If

You came to see the house -

(how it's decorated, how clean it is)

Call and make an appointment.

I think that says it all. In the meantime I’m always busy doing projects that I love.   Cleaning is not one of those things! 

It's Easy - You Can Do It

Growing up, roller skating was not part of my world. On the farm, there were not paved roads or parking lots and roller skating was not thought of or talked about. We ran, rode bikes or horses.

Time went by, I grew up, married & moved away from home and moved many times. My son learned to roller skate as natural as breathing and so did all his friends. I watched and thought, “ I can do that, it can’t be that hard, just some coordination and balance.” After all, I was physically agile, had played all the sports growing up and my body could do whatever I asked. But I never tried skating until one day my friend Dorothy said, “Come skating with me Saturday night at the rink near the High School. My kids are going and I’d like company”. I said, “I can’t skate.” She said, “I know, but it’s easy - I’m sure you can do it.” It didn’t take much persuasion – I was ready to try my ability. I was about 40 years old and knew that if I was ever going to do it – it better be now. I remembered when I was a kid and the field workers would come in for the night with the mules and wagons and I’d run to the front yard to get a ride on the wagon to the barn. I could ride in the wagon, standing up without holding on. If I could do that, surely I could skate.

Saturday night came and off we went. The two boys were on the rink and skating in no time. Dorothy patiently helped me choose the right skates and put them on. Then she guided me to the rink and showed me the rail that went around the rink. She left me holding on as she joined the kids skating like a breeze around the rink.

Ok, I said to my self – hold on, get the feel of this, don’t panic. And I started trying to walk to the end of the rink. I held on tight – my legs were not under my control, one would scoot out in the lane and trip somebody up, or they would wrap around each other like pretzels, or even cause me to do the split (which I didn’t know I could do).

Dorothy would skate by and say, “You’re doing fine”. I gritted my teeth. I didn’t understand this problem, it ought to be easy. Take a deep breath, calm down and let your body find its way. Good thoughts but no improvement. Then I decided that the problem was that I was holding on – I needed to let go of the rail and it ought to be fine. I took a big breath, gave myself a little push, let go, and glided until I needed to do something – I tried, I fell right there in the middle of the lane with a rush of skaters right behind me. They all fell over me. I looked up from the bottom of twisted and tangled legs, bodies and faces. At that moment, I knew that I was not the most popular person at the rink. They all untangled themselves and went on their way.

Dorothy gently helped me up – what a scene, arms, legs and torso all going different directions. When that was finally accomplished, she led me to the rail and then took off to join the boys. I’m sure she was thinking, she’ll keep trying and be fine.

I held onto the rail tight and inched my way to the gate to exit the rink. My whole body ached. I got to the gate, got off the rink, went to the nearest bench, put my face in my hands in frustration and embarrassment and thought, “That’s the last time I’ll ever try that. I just have to go through life not knowing how to skate. That’s ridiculous but that’s how it is!