Walking Backwards

Sometimes I have to wonder about the patterns of other peoples lives. Whether or not people wake up prepared to spring upon the day or if they, like me, cling to the last vestiges of warmth their blanket affords and bury themselves in their pillows until little grabbing hands or little dragging obligations bring them into the land of consciousness. I wonder whether or not they read the paper at the table while drinking their coffee or if they sip tea while taking the dog for a walk. I don't know why, but it is these things that my mind has been preoccupied with every time I go to the grocery store or sit in the car lately; whether or not the man at the next library table over eats dinner at the dining room table or if he eats standing over the sink. It is my attempt at humanizing everyone, I suppose. Because when you humanize people it makes it easier to forgive them from cutting you off trying to get onto the highway or cutting in line at the pharmacy. Not that these things don't get me riled, don't get me wrong, but I sooner realize that all these things are a drop in the bucket, that we are all trying to get through in some way. Some more oblivious than others. It is why I get drug kicking and screaming out of bed in the morning after all.


A small note from the land of the absent blogger, Joe and I have recently, as of November 1st, started following the Compact. We are joining for many reasons, financial, environmental, ethical, but some of the effects we are experiencing in the first week are unexpected. It has brought Joe and I closer, it has made us take another look at the priorities in our lives, and, unfortunately, become a huge consumer of our time. A large amount of planning now has to go into our purchases and spending, which is the way it should be, but I would much rather be reading. I have to remember to put in requests for books I need before I have to write my papers. By the end of this year I hope that Joe and I have made some changes for the better and that Nicholas gets to learn the difference between want and need. I think that that is going to be more difficult than not buying anything new.