So Responsible

I have reached a watershed event in life. I decided to file income tax returns this year. I am going to attempt to e-file. It will not work. I am sure of that. There will be a question such as "Are you a left-handed Estonian with brown eyes? If the answer is no, you are not eligible to E-File!". I love the forms and their little stop signs.
The last few days have been really pleasant. There was a balmy day, a snowy day, and today which was cold enough and the snowflakes that were trapped in the bushes were being gently dislodged by the breeze. I got a gentle facefull while walking and was pleased that it was so refreshing. I have shoveled the steps twice and still retain my fondness for shoveling snow. There is pleasure in a task that has a beginning and a foreseeable end and allows one to proceed at one's own pace. It is not like working in a cubicle and having an endless eluge of papers accumulate while you are working on yesterday's unfinished piles. When you get to the end of the path, you can sit in the snow and watch the small birds feed on the cedar berries that have fallen to the surface of the snow. Getting old is a very good thing. There is time for reflection and observation. Gone are the days of Provide, Provide! There is time for reading and learning and making turkey stock and naps. I never used to take naps. There was always some urgency that needed attention, some dripping faucet that needed fixing, some lawn that needed mowing. Then I met la petite anglais and she showed me the pleasure of naps. To lie in a slowly moving hammock with a breeze the same temperature as me blowing over me. To fall asleep savoring the scent of jasmine wafting from the vine. To sip cold lemonade and eat tomato sandwiches made of one giant slice still warm from the sun of the garden. To be refreshed in the evening and still have the energy to dance to a Strauss waltz on the deck in the moonlight. There has always been time for these things, I just never noticed it. My world proceeds at a slow pace and I revel in the pace and the world. There is nothing beyond the horizon except more horizon. There is turkey stock in the refrigerator, there are Juncos feeding at my feet, and there is the bracing rush of a facefull of snow. Why chase after happiness over the horizon, it is all around me. It is time to notice it.