Wednesday, March 17, 2010

What is there to do?

A lovely and laden question!  Kids ask their mothers that at the end of a long summer.  Vacationers ask it of their concierge at the front desk.  How about push-ups?  Too hard?  Stand upright an arm's length from the wall and do one or two in that position.  With some people, the sign of looking for something to do is twiddling your thumbs.  Parents sometimes ask that their children be assigned homework by their teachers so the kids will have something to do.  Such a practice may instill a work ethic in the kids, a habit of working hard in life.

Nature has provided us with a need to sleep, eat, and breathe.  We are social animals so we have a need to talk with others or engage in mutual activities such as baseball or bridge.  As  we age, merely talking takes on more and more interest.  For one thing, we are more easily tired or we strain a muscle but talking is easy on the body.  We can take the other basics and eat together, cook together, bathe together.  There is a basic need to exercise, to use our bodies, to be able to look at a new scene.  We learned in psychophysics class that the eyes themselves have a constant tremor that is part of the vision system.  

Sure, there is walking, biking, driving around.  There is tv and reading and games and puzzles.  I have a tough time getting motivated to play games or solve puzzles but they are great fun for millions of users of all ages.  I have developed a habit of an easy sudoku a day.  I like the easy ones that nearly solve themselves, even if they aren't much of a challenge.  I enjoy doing one before I allow myself to use the margins in the puzzle book for notes on the best and most memorable events of the day.  Of course, when you are in South Dakota, take a look at the Badlands.  When you are in south Florida, visit the Everglades National Park.  It makes sense to take advantage of the attractions of an area.  Don't be like some people we know who live a few hundred feet from Windsor Castle but have never taken the time to visit it.

There is, of course, shopping and visiting restaurants.  But I find that writing a blog post for each day is very satisfying.  I have to take time to see what is on my mind and find time and energy to express the ideas in a few hundred words.  Finding sources and figures takes me all over the internet, often to sites I had no idea existed.

Popular Posts

Follow @olderkirby