What to do, what to do . . .

The washing never gets done . . .  by Jaan Kaplinski from Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Books)
The washing never gets done.
The furnace never gets heated.
Books never get read.
Life is never completed.
Life is like a ball which one must continually
Catch and hit so that it won't fall.
When the fence is repaired at one end,
It collapses at the other. The roof leaks,
The kitchen door won't close, there are cracks in the foundation,
The torn knees of children's pants...
One can't keep everything in mind. The wonder is
That beside all this one can notice
The spring which is so full of everything
Continuing in all directions--into evening clouds,
Into the redwing's song and into every
Drop of dew on every blade of grass in the meadow,
As far as the eye can see, into the dusk.


I sat down at my desk this morning with the intention of writing this blog post then updating my "To Do" list.  Normally, the first two items I'd include on my litany of tasks would read
                                                
                                                  1.  Update to do list
                                                  2.  Write blog post for today

I always put "update to do list" as the first thing on my to do list.  That way, when the list is complete I can take a bright fuchsia Sharpie and draw a deliberate line through it.  It makes me feel that I've accomplished at least a little something that day.

Now, after reading the Kaplinski poem, I'm re-thinking my list. 

What if, instead of just including the work that takes place primarily in lap top windows, I consider including the things from the world outside my window-- stepping outside to throw out a handful of birdseed before the weather turns,  noticing how the tinny aroma of impending snow has driven away last week's loamy scent of spring, smiling as I catch a glimpse a neighbor with a perpetual spring in his step bop to the bus stop. 

At the end of the day, how many more things could I write down and cross off as being accomplished if I simply expand my vision of  "To Do?"