The world is full of things

The world is full of things to pay attention to.  Just the birds in our backyard are interesting.  I have dozens of books.  There are something like 300 different “channels” or TV services that we can stream into our TV set using the internet.  I have this blog to write in.  I have 1000 contacts I can write to or phone or, if I am modern and up-to-date, I can ‘text’.  I can follow the example of my wife and her friends and draw or paint or sculpture or photograph.  I can create helpful and inspiring videos.  No wonder I am bored.

All these possibilities put me in mind of this long sentence I met yesterday.  This is from the book “Lion” by Sonya Walger.  She is describing the life as the grown child still living at home:

But how hard to be the one who stayed! The one who packed the raisins but not the nuts, who wiped the lipstick off the piano teacher’s mug, tissue-wrapped the Christmas ornaments, washed the sheets, staunched the blood, ignored the lies and the slammed doors, peeled the stickers off the walls, fought for sunscreen and table manners, made beds, combed out the lice, stapled the hems and later sewed them, kissed the friends, befriended the lovers, returned the books, loaned the car, the house, the denim jacket with the Liberty lining, combed out the lice, listened to the story tape jammed in the car stereo, held back the hair bent over the loo, paid the school fees, paid the tennis coach, paid the airfare, combed out the lice, pushed the swings, paired the socks, allowed the cigarettes, forbade unkindness, packed the trunk, renewed the passports, taught the second tongue, recited the alphabet, churned the ice cream, bought the brads, the Walkman, the wedding dress, learned the names and never forgot them, shared the crossword, the towel, the chewed gum.