Wednesday, August 29, 2012

A Question For Three Types Of Mammals


Is it a realistic expectation to be able to do what you'd like, when you’d like to do it, for as long as you'd like or even for a short period of time if that's what you want? Is it fair to expect others in your life to allow for this?

I love to read. Everyone who knows me knows this. And even if you only know me a little, you know this, too. It’s one of the basic. It’s me.

Picture Belle from “Beauty and The Beast” walking around her village with her nose in a book, bumping into things. I’m not always that absorbed but I can be and if I have a spare moment, my hands will open a book.

I always have a book with me whether it’s downloaded on my phone from my Kindle through my iPad or a “real” book stuffed on my person or thrown on the passenger seat of the car. You have the idea, right?

Obviously I can’t read when I’m driving, although I would if I could, and actually I did once in college. Returning from a visit with my college love who lived an hour away and I needed to read a marketing article in preparation for class.

Anyway…All I wanted to do Monday was read even though I was looking at a very long “to-do” list of chores. Don’t you think the word “chore” has negative connotations? I do.

I ripped off the inside portion of the list and got to it; whipping through everything in an hour. I did a slightly better than a half assed job of it, in my opinion. Things looked decent and I declared myself finished for the day.

It was sunny and breezy and perfect for reading at the end of the pier. I snuck down unbeknownst to anyone.

Peace and quiet. Sun lounger and lemonade. Book and me. Ahhhhh!

It’s was perfect for ten minutes until 75 lbs. of furry brown fun came pouncing down to water's edge, ball in mouth. If she could speak, she was saying, “Play with me. I love water. Throw the ball. Again. Again. Again…”

This wasn’t working but I played for a while tiring her completely until her tongue was almost sweeping the ground. She plopped down and left me alone. Post shake, that is.

Mood only slightly diminished, I moved to the front yard. Set myself up on two chairs, cushion under my rear, legs propped up, and book opened….again.

After a few minutes, I heard a familiar chirping, not like a bird, coming from a spot 10 feet away and 20 feet above me. I knew what it was from its very first utterance.


It was this squirrel on its perch in my tree. I don’t know if it’s the same squirrel that constantly torments and taunts the dog but I knew its game here and I was really starting to get annoyed. Every time it started yipping at me, I would look up at it and it would stop. The minute I’d look down at my book, it chirped incessantly. This went on three or four times until I laughed and said out loud, “Really? You’re kidding me, right?” Nope, not kidding. I threw a stick up at the perch. 

But I began to wonder why it seemed like everything wanted my attention and/or didn’t want me to read. Could that be it?

Two attempts, two strikeouts. Third time a charm?

I readjusted myself and started again.

Not more than 15 minutes goes by and my husband, finished with his to-do's, showered, two margaritas in hand, sits down. “Wanna do something?”

I flip a few pages to see where the chapter ends and say, “Four pages. Can you wait for four pages?”

“Do you want to play cribbage or go for a boat ride?” he responds.

“I’m not doing anything until I read these four pages. Are you okay with that?”

“Sure, but what…”

“AH!” I interrupted holding my hand up.

That bought me enough silence to read ten more pages (I snuck in a few extra while he sipped his drink).

The dog, a crazy ass squirrel and my husband all made repeated attempts to disrupt me today for their own purposes. None of them are readers. Well, two can’t be. One doesn’t “get” it or consider it an immensely important part of life like I do.* The best I can relate it to is golf. For him. That's what reading means to me.

So, I tried to ignore them all. Tune them out the best I could. Engage in something I really wanted to do with my time. Told them to hold their horses! Just short of "Leave me alone."

Am I being defiant? Well, maybe. Yes.

I’m taking what I want. Everyone else does. They need to learn to entertain themselves, anyway.

I love them (well not the squirrel) but reading is my love, too. There are worse things I could be choosing to do with my time. It’s not like I’m hanging out at the bars.

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*I have talked up The Hunger Games so much, “It’s right up your alley, Honey!” so just maybe…. I’ve only been able to get him to read three books, Private Parts by Howard Stern, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton and Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and only on vacations.

46 comments:

  1. This is the story of my life. Only I guess I'm lucky I don't have a taunting squirrel to worry about, haha! Glad you were able to at least steal a little time. And now blogging, as much as I love it, cuts into my reading time too. I need to figure out how to better manage that...

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    1. I'm right with you, Stacie. I loved to do both but I don't have the proper balance or I'm not managing it well. I took four days off and just read with my free time. And the more I read, the more I want to. Not enough uninterrupted hours in the day!

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  2. LOL! I totally have days like that. And when I say 'days' I mean 'most days.'

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    1. A lot of mine are like that. Tugs in many directions, too much on my mind. Sometimes I feel like a hamster on a treadmill.

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  3. well, you are me. if i can't be found, i'm hiding in the closet reading my book, usually with a cup of ice cream. it's my happy place.

    love the books he read. he might like the new JFK steven king book. 11/22/63. it was very good.

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    1. Oh! I hide all the time and no place is too small and not above a closet either for which I have stashed a flashlight. Bathrooms work well too.

      I saw a review on that book. Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into it and download for him to take traveling this Fall.

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  4. Reading with three kids constantly hovering is impossible too. Consequently I read at night and stay up way too late! Hope you got more reading in later :)

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    1. I can only imagine trying with three kids running around.

      I always get in "reading time" at night, stay up far too late and happily make it through the day with loads of caffeine just waiting for the next opportunity.

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  5. I'm not a big reader, but I have a hard time getting through a TV show (on the rare occasion I get to watch) without 97 things distracting and pulling me away. I know how you feel.

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    1. I'm glad you get the concept. No matter what it happens to be, your interest. Have at it. Relax. Enjoy. It's yours!

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  6. Gina, I loved how you walked through your day. Nice narrative. But I especially liked the situation with your husband. Nice details. I can remember this little tug of war that goes on with loving couples. Not to try to score points here, but I'd be happy if my love read 20 or 30 pages, if that meant I got her undivided attention for the rest of the evening.

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    1. Thanks, lumdog! Believe me, he was just about to get my undivided attention for the rest of the evening (this was 4:30 pm)...but in "four pages". I read fast. It was three minutes, tops!

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  7. Oh, man I get you. My hubby gave me a Kindle for Christmas this year and I told him he was banding an addict her drug of choice and apologized ahead of time for ignoring him. He chuckled like he thought I wasn't serious, poor fool...

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    1. I love your expression "drug of choice"! How true!!! But we are serious, aren't we? I don't tend to say things I don't mean.

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  8. My husband is a voracious re-reader. He has read all of Tolkien so many times that he can quote spontaneously! Getting him to read new things is the challenge. This was a great narrative--I loved that squirrel.

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    1. That squirrel is like a character in our family or a bad neighbor. Probably not the same one all the time but it's very interactive with us. I've spoken to it before mostly to say "Be quiet" or "Leave the dog alone!"

      My husband loves to golf but when he's home, he's all mine! Love him to pieces.

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  9. Try the CJ Box mysteries. My hubs gets my reading, is a reader too, and still can be difficult to please with books. He likes those. And oh yeah, the universe hates us when we read.

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    1. What's with the universe. There are far worse things we could be doing rather than reading!!!

      I will look into those. If I can find a great one, he will devour it. But I've only managed three. He does well with sports magazines so I buy up the rack before trips!

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  10. If you ever find a time when I am not trying to read I am either asleep or dead.

    I love a good book. It is one of the true pleasures in life.

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    1. Me, too.

      Me, too! I agree wholeheartedly!!!

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  11. Hahah what an inconsiderate dog! :P

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    1. Exactly! Cute as a button and tires rather quickly especially in the water!

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  12. Oh, I'm jealous of the nature and the margaritas.

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    1. Those are moments you look around and pause. Truly.

      And the margaritas...he was sweet and looking to begin our evening relaxing, doing something we both love to do... Drink margaritas while taking a long boat ride on a quiet night. Plus, I wasn't sassy about the reading. I asked for the four pages very nicely.

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  13. Oh, yes, reading. I do read while I am driving...well, not exactly, I read only at the red lights! I love nothing more than when I have hours on end to read. And I really don't like being interrupted, so I'd say you handled it all very well! Fun post!

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    1. Thanks for understanding and thinking I handled it well. The one who took the brunt was the squirrel with the stick but I didn't hit him (came close)

      I do read at stoplights too.

      Hours! To read! Uninterrupted! Indescribable! Pure bliss!

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  14. I love begging for four pages, and reading ten. I can relate. :)

    My husband reads as much or more than I do, but our interests rarely overlap, so I don't get to talk over books with him much. He reads long histories and current events, and I lean toward fiction and science fiction. We both read the Patrick O'Brian sailing novels, though I think we like them for very different reasons. :)

    PS I recently taught the toddler to eat PB from a spoon - she needs the calories and she makes such a mess if it's on bread. I think of your post every time I see her do it. :)

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    1. I beg for pages regularly. He's used to it!

      I NEED to check out the Patrick O'Brian sailing novels. We are both avid sailors (actually the kids, too), recreationally and for vacations. I bet we'd like them AND for different reasons as well but that's okay!!!

      Ohhhhh!!!! A girl after my own heart! Love this! And PB is an awesome source of calories for tykes and protein for us. Who needs that bread, anyway ;-) You've warmed my heart here. Thank you sooooo much!!!

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    1. Yaaaaay back!!! I love when people "get" me!

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  16. As other have commented, you're in good company. I'm impressed you played with your dog first! I completely relate to all of this (and love that you threw a stick at the tree). Next week, a post from the squirrel's point of view!!

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    1. She's relentless. It couldn't have gone any other way. That darn squirrel is an antagonist! I'd love to write one from it's POV! Very fun.

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  17. I can so identify with this! I was a total bookworm when I was a kid and now I would read all day if I could but somehow I feel I have to be doing other silly stuff like filling out forms for my kids' schools. My latest was The Art of Fielding...

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    1. I've been a bookworm my whole life, too. I feel the tug to do everything else and I usually can see and definitely know I have other important things to do but.....

      I haven't read that yet. Are you recommending it? I'm reading "What The Psychic Told The Pilgrim" about a woman's pilgrimage/hike on Spain's historic Camino de Santiago de Compostela. It's an 800 km walk I'm doing with two friend next June through the Pyrennes and rural Spain. It's good so far!

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  18. I don't even try to read unless I know I won't be bothered (ha) because I feel so annoyed when I sink into that lovely world—the world that has been mine since I was six—and something yanks me out of it.

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    1. I don't like to be yanked out of anything but particularly the imaginative world f my book. The day was humorous because I wasn't able to read which is the ONLY thing I wanted to do.

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  19. Ugh! I hate when things interrupt my reading. I've taken to eating lunch by myself and read the entire hour. It's a great way to relax during the work day! Plus there are no dogs or squirrels in the restaurants I frequent. :)

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    1. I used to do that and especially when I constantly traveled. I was always alone but not when accompanied by my book. It also kept strangers at bay as a nose in a book gives off the vibe of unapproachability. Yes, not animals in restaurants!

      Also at work, there was an office used as a store room and it had a sofa in it. Perfect spot for me o sneak away. No one ever went in there but me!

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  20. That's me; I love reading. After retired from the Navy I thought I would get a job but then I realized that might would encroach on my reading, so I didn't get one. I just got back from a vacation where I read three books and the current issue of Foreign Affairs. I love reading.

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    1. I'm really hesitant about going back to work because I thought of the same thing...it would encroach on my reading and definitely my writing. Work is overrated anyway ;-).

      Kindles are good for vacations. I used to back 3-4 books each time and then give them to someone on the beach or at the pool so I didn't have to take them home. I was on extended vacation last Feb.-March and I think I read 5 or 6. HEAVEN!!! I would read a cereal box if that's all there was.

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  21. I sort of feel like sitting down to read is the international symbol for "not having enough to do" and a beacon goes out to everyone I know to suddenly need something. At least you're not alone... I know, that's not helpful!

    I could absolutely feel your frustration here!

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    1. What a good way to put it, Michelle. Everyone has something for me to do...for them! It was a funny moment of frustration but I certainly was.

      I have this thing with my mother; we travel a lot together. She loves to read too but she chats mindlessly while reading. I do not. Early on, I gave her two clues about me. Book open means I'm reading. Eyes closed means I'm sleeping. Both mean I'm not going to talk. All other times I'm available to chat.

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  22. Oh how I love a good book! The problem is like yours; I want to get lost in it and that takes some free time!

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    1. Free time is always the problem. Not having it but finding it's location. That's why I hide from people on occasion.

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  23. Ha! I like your first paragraph. Would it be great if we could just do whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted, for however long we wanted? I think we all wish for that, however unattainable it is.

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    1. Wouldn't that be great? Such a novel idea! But that's why I added "even for a short period of time". Because really, that's all I'm asking.

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