My sister asked, “If you had all the time in the world, and weren’t always working, what would you do for fun?”
I had to think. To me, work is fun. Always has been, even as a youngster. These days, writing, blogging, public speaking and hanging out on social media are my work and my hobbies. But those aren’t things I can do with a buddy on a Saturday.
Suddenly, I felt like Poindexter, always in the lab, hunched over another invention, cackling to myself.
Rallying, I told her I liked to go on field trips to gather dried plants, which I could then spray with metallic paint and use as decorations around my house. Calculating silently, I realized, but did not admit to her, that I hadn’t done that for at least fifteen years.
My Sis, hamming it up in the San Jacinto mountains
Two days later, Sis and I borrowed my husband’s truck and drove up to our local mountains. We spent the day taking pictures of the fall landscape, and gathering dried, dead or otherwise promising plants for my project. When we tired of hiking, clipping and snapping, we retreated to the Idyll Awhile Wine Shop and Bistro for a glass of wine and a fruit and cheese plate. We had a blast.
I hung the clippings in the garage to finish drying. In a few weeks you’ll see how they turned out, if they do. I also took the tree picture you see at the top of this page. A nice souvenir of my day.
I had fun. Hanging out with my sister and climbing around in the hills made me feel like a more complete person, even though, truth be told, I yearned to get back to my “work.” Yes, that’s the Poindexter mindset.
Still, her question set in motion an experience that reminded me:
- we need friends
- we need fresh air
- exercise is good
- once in a while, you need to turn off the computer, go outside and play.
What hobby or leisure activity have you been putting off?
Dancing, swimming, walking on the beach, adding mag clippings to my design notebooks, expanding my plant based recipes repertoire, sketching, sharing health info – all these are fun for me and I try t do them often.
Shelley, it sounds like you’re living right. You’re a good example for me.
What a great idea to spend a day outdoors enjoying a hobby and who better to share the day with than your sister. I have so locked into internet every free moment that I haven’t picked up my old guitar in years. Time to get back to it…singing, too, is good for the soul. Thanks for the reminder.
You are welcome, Pat! I hope to spray the plants today and will post a picture this Friday.
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog for awhile, Lynne, and this post was wonderful. I haven’t been to Idyllwild for a long time. I think I’ll grab a girlfriend and go one of these weekends. Husbands/boyfriends are great, but good women friends are a gift.
Your picture of the leaves changing is beautiful and inspiring. We don’t get much of that in southern California – I’ll have to remember to take my camera.
Probably should hurry on up there, Janis, before the color disappears. Thanks for your kind words. BTW, any future comments you make will be published immediately without this pesky approval process.
I loved Dakota Blues, Lynne. It was uplifting and real, and you are one fine writer, Thanks to Sandy Nachlinger who turned me on to it. I am getting older and as my days turn faster and faster, I realize how much fun I am missing, When day when I retire …. I think you know how that sentence ends,
Oh, man, thanks for telling me that, Grace! I’m so happy that you enjoyed it. I also hope that you can do that stuff now, before you retire. But if it makes you feel better, I retired and now I’m so freakin’ busy I long for weeks of nothingness…stupidtime, languidtime, nothingtime. Hmmmmm. How much of this is actually IN my control?
I want to take up horseback riding again. Used to be a favorite activity when I was a girl. But then I start thinking…what if I fall off? I guess the answer is, you get back on! Rosy
That’s ambitious, Rosy. I used to ride when I was a kid. Paid $4 an hour for the rental horses. Rode a bad-tempered little chestnut mare named Chili every time I went out. She and I had an understanding. She tried to bite me and I snapped her on the nose. Then I fed her a handful of carrots. I loved her. She tolerated me.
Lynne, wouldn’t you know it. Serendipity. Today in my email, there was a Groupon offer for an hour of horseback riding instruction and I bought it! I am going to do it! Wish me luck!
Wow, what a coincidence! Enjoy!
Bird watching. Here along the Texas Gulf Coast it is too blasted hot during the summer to get out for our favorite fun activity–bird watching. Now the things are cooling off, it is time to get out the binoculars and birding books and go for a day trip to Brazos Bend State Park.
I am really looking forward seeing how your plant project turns out.
Me, too, Florence. I have a dresser-top where they’ll look good if they turn out.
Bird watching sounds very relaxing; I imagine you work a picnic lunch into it. Have fun.
Reblogged this on Sixty and Single Again.
Saw that, Chico. Thanks. It’s a compliment.
What I noticed while generating that list is that some of the things I enjoy require the participation of other people and some of them I do alone. I believe in the importance of “tribes.” I consider the women I dance with as one of my tribes…my grandchildren and children form another tribe…friends I take with me on “field trips” are another tribe…my husband and I are a tribe…and the new “cyber friends” I an forming with people from all over the world (like you) are another tribe. My “tribes” help me enjoy life!
What I do all day long is my f-u-n, but you are right. I always come back refreshed and invigorated (if not overwhelmed because I must catch up). I must make more time for reading and I must walk more or my bones are likely to seize up. 😉
Tess, I spent all morning moving the furniture around in my guest room. That was fun.
I guess it’s the break from routine as well. 😉
Fun for me includes…my dance classes two nights a week. This is my 15th year of tap dance and 10th year of clogging.
I LOVE “FIELD TRIPS!” Learning something new or “connecting some dots” or visiting a new place is always a “rush” for me. Last weekend I got to take a tour of one of the beautiful, old cemeteries in Detroit. The next day I attended a lecture at the Detroit Institute of Arts and then volunteered to work at the Freer House, which was open for tours.
Spending time with our grandchildren is ALWAYS FUN. They are 4, 3 and 2. Our grandsons (4 and 2) live just down the road on our farm. Our granddaughter (3) lives five miles away and just started dance class this year…I got to see her dance during an observation class last week…and I was mesmerized. Time spent with these little ones is pretty much ALL PLAY…we “pretend”…do puzzles…chase one another…laugh…sing…dance and generally goof around.
I LOVE FINDING FOSSILS AND INTERESTING ROCKS AND STONES…and I love to travel. We were “on the road” for 38 days last winter and 21 days in September. The September trip included a ten day tour of the National Parks in southern Utah and northern Arizona…and on the way we visited Great Sand Dunes National Park and spent three nights up on Mesa Verde in Colorado. We were so blessed to be able to complete our entire trip before the shutdown. I felt so bad for all of the people who had planned trips in October and were unable to fulfill their dreams of seeing these amazingly beautiful natural wonders.
I could also spend hours wondering around a book store or library…that’s another kind of fun for me.
As you can see…fun is a priority in my life! Thanks for asking.
Sue, what an inspiring, motivating comment! I really think I’m too insular. I love your list and feel like building my own.
I have always enjoyed reading about topics relating to my profession as a psychotherapist. I find it fun to read about dreams and Jungian material, it is fun to take online classes about these topics and fun to talk about it with others. In addition, I play at knitting, browsing antique stores and it is fun to eat in little cafes. And, I have such fun with my grandchildren.
Linda, those sound great! A long time ago I enjoyed eating at little cafes too – at tiny airports. You know, the municipal ones that are too small for jets, or security? Fun to enjoy a ham and egg breakfast while watching the prop planes take off and land. Thanks for the reminder.
Fun is something most of us forget about on a regular basis. But what is fun for one may not be fun for another. I love to share in fun, but also know that there are things that I need to do for myself to have fun. Like paint or weed the garden. I need to do those “fun” things alone, sharing with only myself.
I also consider working with my hands fun. Like rearranging furniture or working in the garden.
gulp… Great question. I know I’ve spent way too many hours at the computer of late. So, this weekend maybe something outdoors! Thank you for the nudge. Love your project idea.
Just don’t do it anywhere near your car. I mean, 50 feet away or in the back yard.
When I was a kid I would reassemble all the chairs in the room, throw a blanket over them, get a flashlight and a book, and read in my newly born tent. Today I read with only one chair, the blanket is for warmth and I forget where the flashlight is. The commonality is fun. And oh yes, my doctor tells me to walk once a day. So I do.
Bob, you have a nice way of saying it. You should be a writer 😉