“I’ve got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom.”
The morning is warm at 46°. The sun hangs in a blue sky intermittently covered in clouds. The blue is both dark and light. The clouds are thick in some spots and wispy in others. It is as if the day hasn’t quite decided what it wants to be.
I was out and about earlier as I had PT this morning. It was slow going as my finger is sore and swollen from PT Tuesday and uke Tuesday night. Before I left PT, I was able to switch all my Tuesdays to different days. That should help.
When I was a kid, today would have been a warm enough day for bike riding, but first, before I could put my feet to the pedals, I had to get my bike out of its winter quarters, the cellar. In front of the cellar door was a concrete wall. The steps were to the left. The space between the door and the wall was so narrow I had to lift my bike, back wheel to the ground, front wheel to the air, and turn it left then I could walk it up the stairs. It became quite an easy maneuver, honed through practice.
Even when I was growing up, I noticed that after Christmas things changed. The colored lights were gone. Darkness came back. Only the street lights with small shining circles below them were lit. I still liked my presents but some of the newness had worn off. They felt familiar now. There was no excitement, no countdown of the days. We went day to day. If the weather was good and we had snow, we’d sled, on cold days we’d ice skate, but on warm days, we’d pull out our bikes, but the days were often grey, cloudy and cold so we were stuck inside. We watched TV. I read. We played games, board games, but it didn’t take long for ennui, a winter malady, to take over. Everything was boring. By the end of the week, we were ready for school, for the end of Christmas vacation. Nothing entertained us any more. We were into a bleak January. All the good spirits were gone.
My dance card has not been empty this week. I had PT twice, uke practice on Tuesday, and we have a concert Saturday. I didn’t even have time for naps. I’m not sure if I really like busy weeks. I am, at heart, a sloth.
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December 29, 2022 at 3:57 pm
Hi Kat,
Today is cloudy with a high temperature of 72°. It’s like a moment of springtime in December. The high temperatures should last throughout the New Year weekend.
Like you, I’m already bored and I don’t return to work until next Tuesday. We are spending tomorrow night through New Year’s Day at an Embassy Suite hotel. We are taking my daughter and we call it a stay-cation. The Embassy Suits offers all suite rooms plus a manager’s happy hour in the evenings and a full cooked to order breakfast in the mornings. They also have an indoor swimming pool and hot tub.
All of the Christmas lights are still on in our neighborhood and on Main Street until New Years Day. My late mother-in-law had a paramour who was the cheapest man on earth. He would take down his Christmas lights on his house promptly on December 26th to save electricity. He’s also thankfully no longer with us. 🙂
December 29, 2022 at 5:48 pm
Hi Bob,
It will be in the 50’s this weekend so that will be my touch of spring, not even close to yours however.
That sounds like a great vacation. You are away, eating out, enjoying breakfast every day and probably sightseeing. That’s a great time away. I did stay at the Bostonian for a weekend. It is a high end hotel right by the market, but I needed to treat myself.
My lights are still on as well. My street has no street lights so it is usually dark, but four of us have lights on so we are keeping the winter at bay.
December 29, 2022 at 5:17 pm
An interesting post on boredom. I was trying to decide on a favorite song, but I’m digging the contrasts of the four.
December 29, 2022 at 5:55 pm
Rowen,
I think when I young I didn’t value free time to do nothing. I wanted to be busy. Summers were always a bit too long.
Learning to read slowed me down. I could curl up with a book and lose track of a day. The older I got the more I valued sloth time.
They are a contrast. I find myself choosing different sorts of music than usual.