The Excitement of a Mundane Life
By Dale Angel
As a mundane lifer…
I like growing peppers–the slender bright red ones that don’t die when neglected. They just wait patiently. When you do remember to water them, they unfurl their leaves and continue their purpose of adding more flowers so there are more little ones. They appear passive…..but watch out! They can bite you from the chili bowl.
I am shamelessly wealthy in utilitarian assets. I own more rags than any one I know. They’re soft, clean, and stand at attention when you need to wipe up the floor or clean out the car. They accept abuse and disrespect…even if at one time they were your best nightgown or served formerly as flannel sheets. I might add, they also go out with dignity.
These tools add to one’s excitement when washing windows. I realize some don’t like clean, but they may change their minds if they felt and heard the sweek of clean glass you can see through. There’s something comforting in recognizing your neighbors when you can see out clean windows.
Common mundane affairs of life do have value. They can energize one to go through pictures and unfinished projects started in the ’70’s that are behind closed closet doors and are multiplying. One of us have to move.
I’m part of a community trying to be trendy and reduce the clutter. I had to hang the car keys on a nail on the outside of the house so I could find them. They don’t stay in one place. That’s such a little thing to manage. It’s the pine tree at the end of the driveway that gives me unease. It moves. It has made acquaintance with the right rear fender.
I could have bought enough groceries to go through the winter, but this year I decided to buy water instead and make a salad bed…a bad investment in a drought summer.
I bought promises. They’re very expensive. I believed those people who write for garden catalogs. The super tomatoes label warned ”build a superstructure first. Then plant. Immediately step out of the way!”
Those writers need to be screened and held accountable for taking unrestrained license with truth. Class Action lawsuits are made of things like this.
I gave some plants to my neighbor he said ”they flung themselves all over the front yard and refused to move.” He took an axe to them. A few red nubs were not edible. We never figured out what they were
Being a member in this society means one is serious about their responsibilities–although… maybe… senseless in other areas of life.
We live on words to nourish ourselves like Winston Churchill’s that said, ”Success is the ability to go from failure to failure and not lose your enthusiasm.”
It helps temper the excitement of the mundane life.
Dale
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