For a lazy day in which I did not really get going until 9:30AM, it ended up being a remarkably productive day. In some ways, the productivity of the day depended highly on the iterative choices that were made, and each choice tended to make other options available. I often ponder how that sort of thing happens from time to time, leaving only a little bit of time for reading, where I finished one of the books I had brought [1], plenty of time for eating, and time for a lot of other things as well. I suppose it is inevitable that I did not get as much reading done as I would have liked, but considering what I did get done, it is not so bad, I suppose, that the reading lagged a bit behind my usual ambitious pace. Sometimes there is so much else that needs to be done, after all.

So, what was done? First, after not getting nearly enough sleep last night, I got up and finished reading a book on Bee-Friendly gardening. By the time I got around to reviewing it, it was time to eat breakfast, and take some of my gout pills, which reduced the suffering I was in today to a far more tolerable level. After eating some I got to writing that book review, which did not take too long. As I was beginning the book review for De Re Militari [2], I was told that the boys were shooting outside and that they were willing to keep shooting a while, so I took a shower and then hobbled off to join them, where I shot most of their guns and was reasonably accurate, at least, given the fact that I can never really keep still enough to shoot as perfectly as I would like. I had not shot a rifle since I had gone to my 6th grade teacher’s place one Sunday afternoon to shoot there, in a similar setup with clay targets and a variety of weapons. I did not get to shoot all of the weapons, as there was one weapon in particular that was ill-suited for left-handed shooters, with cartridge release that would have put bullets in my mouth, something I wished to avoid. As it was, the two less proficient shooters among our group ended up putting enough bullets in the cardboard that it couldn’t support any more clay pigeons. I consider that mission accomplished.

After that was done I returned to write the book review, which I finished shortly after lunch, where I took another gout pill and gave a raspy prayer for the meal, as I was losing my voice throughout the day. Once I finished the book review I got around to registering for the Feast of Tabernacles on the website and also sending a message to the festival coordinator in Estonia, since that is where my family decided to go, and it looks feasible if ambitious. Since my sense of travel adventure has returned after the previous debacle [3], I take it that I can spread my wings and travel again without fear of debilitating panic. Shortly after that was done it was about 4PM or so, and it was time to start approaching home, as I had more to accomplish. First, though, it came time to drop someone off to pick up a vehicle that was being worked on in Milwaukee, at someone’s place that I had never been to, and while I was there I was told that the front CV joints were going bad, which is why my car was making such dreadful noises. I then went grocery shopping at a different place than usual that was in my old stomping grounds [4] and then drove home where I put everything away, started laundry, and did my taxes, looking up how much it would cost to replace CV joints to see something that was in the range of $100-$200.

Looking back on the day, I am quite surprised that so much ended up being able to be accomplished despite feeling rather lethargic and not at my best. I even managed to request my next to audiobooks from the library in the hope that at least one of them will arrive by the time I finish with my current audiobook about minor leaguers and their struggle with being so close and yet so far to the promised land. Such is often the life, though, as we have much to do, and when it is done, it seems as if we have scarcely less to do than before, no matter how productive we have been with our time or how much we have accomplished. There is always far more to do than can possibly be done by any of us, even where we have the energy and the stamina to do what we can. And yet we continue to try our best, even knowing it is not nearly enough, or nearly as much as we would want to do if we only could do more.

[1] https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016/04/03/book-review-the-bee-friendly-garden/

[2] https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016/04/02/non-book-review-john-de-courcy-prince-of-ulster/

[3] See, for example:

The Longest Day

Ever Had One Of Those Catherine Morland Days?

[4] https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012/10/11/happy-valley/