I Gotta Go!

Do you know these people? Maybe you are these people? You know the ones who cannot sit still for any period of time.

Those who must constantly be moving intrigue me. I don’t know if it is the multi-tasking element or just the jitters, but some people seem to need to continue to move.

For some, maybe many, it is the constant wonder of what is next. I noticed this in high school with those who could not sit still and was always looking for another adventure. Now I notice it with people who plan every moment of their lives and stick to the schedule. The consistent reviewing of the phone messages and the agitated behavior means they want to move onto something else.

As the ice cream truck wanders the neighborhood, I think of my parents and their childhood. They didn’t have the cell phones or laptops or radio or television or constant connections with their friends. They went home from school and read a book or sat quietly in their room listening to the chorus from an open window.

Sure, this seems so ancient, but there is a point here. When was the last time you turned off all your electronics and sat quietly while a rainstorm rolled by? When did you wake up in the morning to the song of the yard and just lie there and enjoy it? When did you decide to take a walk in the evening instead of watching the latest news blast and opinion?

Tonight I sit quietly in my chair with a window open. The noise and colored visuals of the news presents information though toned down and the neighbor’s lawnmower just about drowns out the sound.

It can all be turned off, including the overhead light, to watch the activities of the yard. The steady pattern of big furry critter followed by smaller critters and then the feathered friends are consistent yet varied on any given day.

There is the catfight from late last night or the squawks from this morning when the sun rose, but these are just the sounds of a patch of land that is dedicated to nature. This is all a part of what nature has to offer.

But taking the time to put down every distraction and involving yourself in the quiet can be an unexpected adventure. Maybe the abuse of substances assists in these absences of distractions.

Have you ever sat on a sailboat when there is no wind?

So tonight, if the weather decides to rain and provide a light show, I will wander out on the porch and sit for hours as an innocent observer and enjoy the sound and the glory and the mist in my face without the desire to more to something else.