To-Do Lists

Kate ValeI’m in shock! I prepared a “to-do” list yesterday, the better to organize both my thoughts and my writing work schedule. That list now exceeds four pages!

Have I been laying back lately, playing instead of working? Or am I simply anticipating what I want to accomplish before the holidays and family obligations intervene?

In checking over that list—which may become longer before items can be crossed off with a satisfying “so there!”—I discovered that numerous items are not in themselves big jobs. It’s just that there are so many. Thus, the entirety of the list is off-putting.

My garden calls, the bulbs need planting, and the sun is out. But although I yearn to grab my spade and head outside, that dratted “to-do” list glowers. Get to it, it repeats, a litany that threatens to overwhelm my desire to take a break.

A friend just called and I admitted my schizophrenic urgings to be two places at once—outside and inside, planting my bulbs, completing and then shortening the everlasting list.

Oh, joy! What I couldn’t do for myself has been provided by another.

I now have permission to take a break in favor of the bulbs, knowing the inside chores will get done later today or perhaps even tomorrow and throughout the week. The garden needs my attention before I can put it to bed for the season under a warm pile of mulch.

Bye-bye, list! I’ll see you later.

Fall is finally here!

After one of the longest Indian Summers on record (and 81 days without a drop of rain!), I no longer have to water my garden. The rains have arrived, along with heightened color in the woods. The birds have returned for free lunches at the bird feeder and squirrels–still hopeful they can grab a snack, too–have again begun doing their best to outwit the spring-loaded feeder. They must be slow learners.  No such luck, guys.

Will the owls be heard again at night as they look for game scrambling through the still-crisp leaves that give away their location?

I love the seasonal changes and my flowers and shrubs are now enjoying almost daily drinks even as they begin a winter rest before they bloom again. What remains to be seen is if the new bulbs recently planted will come up or be eaten by the moles, and whether the rescued rose bush, a mere woody stump last year will, next year, set blooms. I hope, I hope.