The best way out is always through.
— Robert Frost
My regular readers should know by now that I am presently running in continual exhaustion mode. After three straight weekends of chicken pen building, it would seem that a regular, non-working weekend would have been on the docket. But then the “doghouse” blew down.
It happened on Wednesday. The canvas-covered, tent-like garage structure that we were using for a dog shelter blew away in the winds that Oklahoma sent our way. I spent Thursday and Friday planning and then Saturday and Sunday building a dog house.
It is a stunning structure. I might have even momentarily channelled my grandfather during this process. It is large enough for both of our big outdoor dogs (and probably a third, should we meet with temporary insanity again). It has a peaked roof, which now is low enough to actually hold in body heat, thank you Soonerville. And as soon as I get the wood siding and shingles on, I’ll post a picture.
On Saturday, I thought I might actually collapse. Why is it that only celebrities can be hospitalized for exhaustion? Either they’re really getting treated for something scandalous, or they’re pussies. I have to question that whole “hospitalized-for-exhaustion” thing because I feel I’ve pushed myself about as far as humanly possible and didn’t need any medical attention.
Then on Sunday, I felt oddly refreshed. I was still achy and tired, but it was a comfortable, familiar feeling. I no longer felt like I was dying. In fact, I felt like I was living.
I’m beginning to get into the zen of accomplishing something every day. I’m really beginning to get into the zen of building things. Working with wood seems natural to me. However, I am not getting into the zen of lifting a 4’x8′ sheet of 3/4″ plywood over a fence by myself.
When I was little and didn’t feel good or was just tired or maybe just didn’t want to go to school, my mother’s answer was always, “Get up and move around and you’ll feel better.” It really pissed me off when I was 10. Between my genetic material and my Aries nature, there was no way I was going to have a life of leisure.
And there ain’t no gettin’ around that.
Deb Moore 