An Interlude

This morning I heard a loud pop and then the lights went out. I decided it must be another transformer that had blown. Either that or the revenuers have come to close to the still again. Just kidding. I’m wondering how long this time it will take the power company to replace the transformer and how long it will be before I reset all the clocks and timers in the house. The last time I finally got around to the last timer it was a week later. I wasn’t using it for anything and it was on the list, but not a big hurry.

I find the older that I get, the stuff that just had to be done at that moment can wait for awhile. When I was younger I would rush around when the power would come back on and reset everything. As usually happened, the power would go out again in five minutes. The whole cycle would continue two or three more times. Everything had to be in its place and everything had to be running right.

I’ve said before I always looked forward to being my age now. There’s not the constant urge to get up and be doing something. What I used to think of as boredom, which would drive me out of the house looking for anything to do, is now content. I’m content to sit here looking out my window at the yard, the birds and cars passing by. Everyone pretty much knows how I feel about the yard and I could sit and watch it grow, with the weeds sprouting higher than the grass. I don’t feel any urge to go and level everything out. To see the birds flying after each other in an aerial ballet while the squirrels chase each other over branches and the ground is a joy to watch.

What’s funny to me is it hasn’t even been thirty minutes and I’ve seen a mass exodus of my neighbors leaving their darken-quiet houses. A couple have started working on their lawns (I know, don’t say it), but most have gotten in their cars and driven off. Whether it’s to do something they were going to do, or just to get away from their non-functioning home, I don’t know. But I haven’t seen a one go to their porches and just sit and enjoy.

It’s usually not quiet here because there’s always something running. A television, the air conditioning, or a dishwasher, something always is making some kind of noise. But I myself enjoy these little interludes from daily life. It gives me time to watch the birds and squirrels, and to watch my grass grow.