Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Watching the chickens

I've been a nonworking person for nearly seven weeks now, but we've been busy. I checked my calendar today and, since June 25, I've only had 15 weekdays out of 35 when I was in town or sans grandchildren. And most of those at-home days I've been loaded up with tasks - getting our lives adjusted around retirement, taking care of paperwork, making travel arrangements.

Today, I finished up at 4 pm. I spent half an hour in the garden and then went down to the easement to watch my neighbor's chickens.

When I approached their pen, they all ran to the fence, looking for a treat. I had brought nothing, though. I sat in the old chair we put down there and watched, quietly. After a few minutes the fowl apparently forgot I was there and went about their pecking, scratching, clucking business.

For 20 minutes I sat in that quiet place, imagining I was still working and feeling bad about it. I decided to stop imagining and enjoy the chickens. And I did.

I have a lot of reading I want to do. And I am still working on my ESL class. But today I took the time to watch the chickens. Sometimes I need to remind myself it's okay to do what they do - nothing much, but enough.


6 comments:

Cheryl Kohan said...

That is so true...it's important to just kick back once in awhile. It's a hard adjustment after "working" so many years but it's important. Watching the chickens...sounds pretty peaceful to me :-)

#1Nana said...

I've been "working" this week with the Lion's booth at the Umatilla County Fair. Tomorrow I have the 5 to midnight shift...I hope I can stay awake! After five days of cooking hamburgers and french fries, I will be ready to retire again!

The best thing about retirement for me is the stress free environment. I love not worrying about politics and I don't miss the office drama. We don't have chickens, but I do spend time watching the quail. We have two large family groups now.

Enjoy the peace.
Jann

Linda Hoye said...

Wonderful! Watching chickens is a good time to unwind and reflect on what's really important, I imagine. I can't wait until I have time to do that!

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

It's okay to just sit and relax sometimes. Better than okay, in fact. You can watch sunsets, birds, flowers, neighbors, strangers, water, clouds.... It's just hard to give ourselves permission.

Ms Sparrow said...

After 5 years of retirement, I still have days when I feel that I didn't accomplish anything. I'll sit a mentally tick off what I've done to justify my time. However, I don't think watching chickens would ever be a waste of time! Maybe it's a matter of rearranging priorities.

Linda Reeder said...

I just got caught up on your postings. It sounds like you had a wonderful time with family in Alaska!
And by all means, take time to smell the roses, or watch the chickens!