Slow

It's a million hot. No exaggeration...a million...I just checked. But I tell myself, at least it's not a million and we are living in the tipi.

On Sunday the dishwasher broke. No, not Mike, he can still wash dishes, but the automatic dishwasher. Bellied-up right in he middle of canning peaches. So, we are back to doing dishes by hand and you know what? I kinda like it.

Mike is in the air-conditioned bedroom sleeping. Dinner is ready for when he gets up and I decided to do the dishes. I poured a glass of wine, set it on the window sill and mindlessly looked out the window and did the dishes. It was kinda nice. I mean, I had warm running water and all. In the tipi I had to haul water, heat water and do dishes in dishpans. At the second tipi (for those of you who don't know we did 22 months in two different tipis) I had sinks which drained into a five gallon bucket which needed to be hauled out every day. So, the sink and running water toady was a kick. Plus, there was wine and a window!

It's funny how having something broke can slow you down and focus you on small joys. Now I'm not saying I found a ton of joy in doing the dishes but it did slow me down and I got to be mindless for a little bit and I enjoyed that. Mike's kinda broke right now and that slows us down too. We aren't out tearing up the lakes in the canoe, whipping streams to a froth with fly rods or camping ourselves into the ground but we are spending a great deal of time just being with each other and talking and I do find a ton of joy in that.

So, he's up now. I'll put dinner on the table: country style ribs, fresh beans, carrots and 'tatoes from our garden. Picking them and providing for us is very satisfying and brings me as much joy as watching him eat what we've grown. It's been a slow year for the garden but it is providing, I guess it's true that good things are worth waiting for. So, I raise my glass and toast to simple pleasures and slowness. Cheers.

Peace and slow down.
Karen