Washing by Hand and Other Vacation Adventures

(photo by yours truly at babo cafe)

Time distortion - going to sleep when I’m tired and getting out of bed when I’m ready - constitutes full-blown vacation mode for me. Unhurried mornings. Late nights spent reading or listening to music or other things without worrying about getting enough sleep before I must arise for work.

In this time distortion I seem to have more energy or at least I feel like I do. Perhaps I am making work overly difficult by my thought processes, so I will need to double check what I think about work as I am preparing for work and stuff. But for now, I have been finding this time both welcome and much needed.

Two days ago I washed one side of our house by hand, using a bucket, soap, water and scrubby pad and good, old elbow grease with a ladder to help rise up and a sponge mop to help me move out. Dirt accumulates every where, and the outside of a house is no exception. Ours was very, very dirty. We had debated whether to rent a power washer. After doing some research, I concluded power washers cost too much money to rent.

In less than four hours, I can wash our entire house by hand, for less than the rental cost and the time involved in picking up and returning the washer to a local home supply store. The sense of satisfaction is also much greater, I think, than I might have achieved with a power washer.

On vacation I can contemplate these types of projects. I don’t create false worry in my mind about time.” With no where to be in the morning, I can relax and actually get more done - if I choose to do so - than when I have to go to work in the morning. It’s like I induce myself into a state of semi-catatonia by thinking work in the morning.” The whole process is hilarious since I can’t save time. All I can do is either relax into a moment or waste it zoning out and worrying about this or that.

Today we had a relaxing afternoon at babo cafe, people watching and enjoying one another’s company. I like vacations where the goal is to either do seemingly really hard things, like wash the house by hand or order from the chalkboard menu in Paris, or absolutely nothing, the more frequently the better.