The Writer's Pen

Did you ever have one of those days? You know the ones I mean – when you look back on your day’s activities and wonder what just happened? I have more of those days than I care to admit, and recently experienced one that was no exception. It started out as a normal morning, but as I sit here thinking and writing about it, I can’t say where things took a turn.

My morning almost always starts with coffee and the news. After that I had a bowl of cereal, got dressed and then read a devotion before heading out the door to work at our local food pantry. When I got there I realized I had forgotten to shave, though it’s not a big deal since I don’t have a heavy beard. I usually work with my wife and a couple other women stocking shelves, but that day my wife had a doctor’s appointment. We normally go out for coffee after our work is done, but that morning I decided not to go since my wife wasn’t there. My plan was to get a coffee to go, check a few yards to determine if they needed mowing this week, and then start working in our basement.

The first stop on my little trip was Casey’s for coffee and a donut. The coffee I usually get was empty, and the donut I like was gone. I found suitable replacements and trudged forward. I drove to two yards on the east side of Big Spirit Lake, then decided to scout a nearby farm where I hunt pheasants. I checked two more yards on the north end of East Okoboji Lake, then decided to hike in a state hunting preserve a mile down the road. It was nearly lunchtime when I finished this little excursion. Where had the morning gone?

As I sat eating lunch and watching more news, I formulated a plan to start working in the basement that afternoon. The flood this spring had ruined some door trim, baseboard and carpet in down there. We had the carpet replaced with tile fairly soon afterwards, but I’ve been avoiding replacing the trim for quite some time, though my tools and the trim were in the garage waiting for me to start. At some point while eating lunch, I noticed I had forgotten to fill a couple bird feeders that morning. I figured I should take care of that before I started on the basement project – what would a few more minutes hurt?

I went to the garage with good intentions. I walked past the tools and trim to get to the bird seed. After I filled the feeders, I walked over to my garden. In good years it doesn’t amount to much, but this year was especially bad. I thought about watering the garden quickly before working in the basement, and decided against it. There were some beans and cucumbers that were done for the season, a couple tomatoes that had never bloomed, and a couple peppers and a zucchini that had bloomed but never produced. I still had two good tomato plants and had dug a few potatoes, so why waste water on these other plants? I decided to just pull them out and then work in the basement.

I pulled out everything but two tomato plants, then decided I should take down the rabbit fence and tomato cages. The wildlife in our part of town can be pretty destructive, so I had lots of posts and wire holding the fence and cages together. It was quite a project tearing it all apart, but the next problem was where to store things. In years past I had put everything under our deck, but this year I had taken the lattice off and hadn’t replaced it (yet). I knew better than to ask about putting it there temporarily until I got the deck finished, so I decided to put it in the storage shed. Though there wasn’t room there, I thought I could probably squeeze all that bulky wire into my rental storage unit, a mere two miles away.

After loading the fencing and cages into the pickup, I went to the storage unit. Things fit there alright and I thought I still had time to work in the basement. First, however, I needed to stop at the store to get chili beans to put into a soup that was simmering. While I was there I decided to pick up a few other items. When I got home I walked to the back yard to water those two tomatoes. It wouldn’t take long, would it? But since the hose was out, I decided to water a few more bushes and flowers. Before putting everything away, I used a spade and hoe to work up the garden. That should make things easier next spring, right?

My smart watch said I had walked a lot of steps and burned off a few calories. It also read 5 p.m., and suddenly I remembered that I hadn’t put the chili beans into the soup. Since supper would be a little late, I decided I had time for a glass of wine while I watched the news. My mind wandered a bit as I thought about what I wanted to accomplish tomorrow and if there would be time to work in the basement. Today was supposed to be the day to get it done, but maybe tomorrow would work out better.

It was just one of those days!

Roger Brockshus and his wife, Rita, live in Spirit Lake where they are mostly retired. Roger is a member of the Hartley Writers and Poetry Group.