Friday, November 30, 2012

Tick tock

Once again, I can wander into the front yard without being overwhelmed by the noxious smell of goat piss.  It's only been two days since Pan left the homestead (again) and I am already enjoying the one less bastardofagoat goat chore I have to do.

It's not like it took that much time.  Walk over to this pen, dump some fresh hay in the corner, a small scoop of grain and top off the water bucket every few days.  But my daily barn chore burden has been lightened, if even ever so slightly.  And then I think to myself, Myself, if not having to care for this one animal feels so good, how wonderful would it feel if there were NO animals to take care of?

What would I do with all that extra time during the day?  Well, besides blog (which I really should do a lot less of anyhow).  I mean, think of all the possibilities.  I'd say that routine barn chores take up about ninety minutes a day.  That's over ten hours a week, forty-two hours a month or twenty-two days a year that I've spent doing animal chores.  There are a million things that need to be done to the house.  There are a thousand books that I still want to read and hundreds more I want to read to Rhiannon.  There are new garden beds to plan & dig, hoop houses & high tunnels to construct.

But I know exactly what would end up happening with that time.  I'd just fill it with some other "chore" and still be in the same situation I am in now.  The bathroom would still need the closet put in, the floors would still be unfinished, the outdoor kitchen still in the planning stage.  I'd still have Moby Dick sitting in my nightstand with the bookmark on page 24 (where it's been for the past two years).  That afghan that I was supposed to finish for my sister's best friend son (who is now 3 1/2 years old and has a baby sister) would still be rolled up in the closet, half finished.  And all the garlic that I bought and planned on putting in the ground a month ago will have been pilfered to be used in scrambled eggs or an alfredo sauce.

Exactly where am I going with this post?  I don't know.  I guess that I'm always complaining that there is not enough time in the day/week/month/year to do things, but there is plenty of time.  If it is that important, then I will make that time for myself and that project.  Notice I say this as I'm blogging away.  But technically, I really wouldn't be doing much more than sleeping as it's three thirty in the morning anyhow and it's not like I could start hammering away at the floor or dig up sod to make room for a garden bed.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.
It's time to whip my slothness (and rear end) into shape.  My idle hands may not exactly be working for Satan, but they sure could be used to do something more constructive with the time I choose to give them.

"Time is a created thing.  To say 'I don't have time' is like saying, 'I don't want to." - Lao Tzu

10 comments:

  1. Well, I think your post is both funny...and slightly frightening because we just talked about this same thing with the boys the other day. You know how when you have oodles of time on your hand...NOTHING gets done, but when you just have a little bit of time, you hurry up and kick it in the butt? Yah. We're doing some restructuring around here as well. (Don't give up blogging though! I come here to get a dose of sanity!!)

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  2. Productivity is always something I struggle with..... as long as it is not doing housework. I often say that I would rather skin a live cat than clean house......

    This time of year is always "supposed" to be a light chore time but it never is. It seems that I am a glutton for punishment and find something that has to be taken care of, fed and watered, or built when it is cold as the Arctic.


    The plain truth is that a simple life will make you old early and eventually kill you.

    Something went waaay wrong the other evening and my hubby had an uncharacteristic melt down ( that is usually my department). During the hissy fit, he said," Why don't we just get rid of ALL of it?" For the first time, way down deep inside, I really considered it..... for about 30 seconds.
    Scared the snot out of me....

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  3. Oohhh, that final quote really sums it all up, doesn't it?!? Okay, okay, enough of the time-wasting blogging...hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work I go!! :)

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  4. Geez, it must be the time of year, or a full moon, or Capricorn has just rammed Venus. I just had a come-to-Jesus meeting with myself and the veil was lifted. I am packing my time full of chores because I am ignoring other - more scary - things. I choose the wimp's way out - it's less scary and only involves heavy lifting. But, honestly, if what we/you/I want is self-sufficiency and more freedom from the things we think stink, this is the price you/we/I pay. It's all in how I/you/we look at it. (Aren't I obnoxious with the I/we/you business?)

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  5. Alas, without the animals and the farm chores what would you blog about?

    I guess at first you would think of things, but then, as time wore on it would devolve into heart wrenching prose about Pan.

    Sure, at first they would be critical of his smell, looks, behavior, etc..., but as his departure brought on your demise your true thoughts and sadness at his departure would be lain bare...Pan, Pan, how I long for your melodic calls!

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  6. Mama Tea, it's not that we're procrastinators, we just work best under pressure! (Right?)

    Tana Mc, I'm glad that we're not the only people that have a melt down and say "Lets just pack up and leave!". Haven't done it yet though :)

    Susan, Yep. Shoveling goat poop is easier than fixing subflooring. Not that I have that problem (big eye roll).

    Chai Chai, HILL-arious! But I SWEAR, Pan will NOT be coming back!

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  7. Candy, BTW, I've had that stinking tune in my head all day now!!!

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  8. Lao got it exactly right!

    Whatever you decide to do with your time, please don't stop writing. I love your slightly blasphemous style. That first paragraph about the goats says it all.

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  9. They always say that if you want to get something done, give it to someone who's busy. I personally just have to get the creaky joints moving and get rolling, then I get lots accomplished. Gotta talk myself into it first, though. It helps me to have a list nagging loudly to get my rear in gear...

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  10. I have animal chores, therefore I am :)

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