Living in the Moment

I tried it once but it didn’t work. Life is too hectic to halt and my head is a hive. I was gazing out the window when the garbage truck beeped its back-up just as I was closing in on the meaning of life while the radio played an Oldie about this spin I’m in, and then the phone rang.

So I’ve decided to stop living my life and start recording it to watch the next day. Here I am on Thursday viewing Wednesday. It’s a compelling drama from the opening scene as I can’t decide whether to get up and pee or stay snuggled under a fluffy comforter. (You had to be there).  An executive decision such as this foretells the existential conundrums one faces in retirement. 

Fast-forward to breakfast: It’s Metamucil, stewed prunes and All-Bran for me (the usual food-to-go)….on alternate mornings I substitute cantaloupe for prunes and I can be seen cutting perfect quadrants for which I was judged a 9.8 by the Bulgarian judge in the ’84 Olympics….and for Peggy I am pouring orange juice and measuring her oatmeal. It doesn’t get more exciting than this as we both sip our respective teas, Earl Grey and Good Earth spice followed by a moment of intimacy as our spent tea bags mingle in what we call glumper dishes.

Spirited conversation follows and when I ask how she feels about the upcoming Sochi winter games Peggy says she really doesn’t know much about that………which then leads to a misremembered chorus of, I know a little bit about a lot of things but I don’t know enough about you. To which she replies, You know I went to school and I’m nobody’s fool that is until I met you.

The value in recording one’s life now becomes self-evident. I can play this over and over and live in the moment all day long. ….were it not for the next epiphany whenever that might appear. One must remember not to dwell too long on these highlights or you might find yourself living two days behind your lived life instead of just one.

There is also the value of the fast-forward button when we are in a deep ruminative state which loses much in translation from the inner to outer realms. If only I could recall what great thoughts I was thinking I might do a voice-over but such transcendent deliberations probably weren’t meant for merely human ears to ponder.

The mute button also comes in handy when deletion is the better part of documentation. Otherwise my grunts would be heard helping Peggy on with her playful new socks. Stretching each one over the arch and lining up the heel can take ten minutes on a good day, particularly when I’m laughing through it. Ten minutes is a lot of moments.    

I can hardly wait till tomorrow when today becomes yesterday and I can find out what I’ve been doing all day.