Today we worked on our barn here in Texas, a carriage house actually, which is behind our Queen Anne Victorian. This had been filled with building materials and extra appliances and furniture while we were renovating the house, and now has just been holding a mish-mash of junk. So, today we headed in and started hauling things out to divide up: metal recycling, regular recycling, trash, and useful items. The result? The back yard is still full, but the barn is looking a lot more organized. And the yard is organized, too, in terms of what is going where. We also ordered a bin from the city and started tossing in the trash. By the end of tomorrow, our goal is to have the back yard clear, except for the bin which will stay a few more days while we fill it up with trash from the gutting of the little house, a small guest house that we hope to have ready for a college student to rent by fall. Needless to say, we have been on a roll!
At 7 pm, I am about an hour away from bed. All of this lifting and carrying and tossing away takes its toll by the end of the day. Still, I feel healthy and strong, and surely I am sweating out tons of toxins since the temperature has been in the mid-90’s and the humidity has been high enough to send my hair into a total frizz.
A friend of mine who is 9 years older than I am commented on how much work Ray and I were doing on this trip to Texas. “You two are to be commended,” he said. “You’re working your little hearts out.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I was telling Ray yesterday that nobody can fault either one of us for not being industrious.”
My friend, who’ll be attending his 50th high school reunion in August, told me he fully intends to get up every day and go ninety-to-nothing until the day he drops dead. And the truth is his life reflects that philosophy. He and his wife have been to Alaska, Belize, the Amazon, Italy, Germany and Mexico all in just the past few years, and when they’re not traveling he’s out mowing his property, working on projects, swimming at the community pool, and basically keeping busy from morning until night. The result: he’s happy, healthy, and as content a fellow as I’ve known in my life. This is exactly how I want to be. But there is a little problem…
When I am in California and am working every day with my students, I have to remind myself to get my rear-end up and out of the chair. But here in Texas, probably because there are so many unfinished projects here, I am active all day long. I am much happier, too, which begs the question, how am I going to incorporate this activity level into my LA life? The answer: we’ve decided to make this an “organizing” summer once we get back to California, which means that we’re going to tackle our garage at home and then the storage bins we have up on our land in Ojai. This might sound minor, but don’t be fooled. My husband – a packrat of the highest caliber – has these areas filled to the brim, and sorting, tossing and organizing should keep us busy until September.
But for now, I’m going to settle down in this air-conditioned house and enjoy the evening. Ray has gone off to the store to buy us a little ice cream to celebrate all of this work. Surely that’s okay. After all, we’re burning all those calories!
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