The Art of Doing Nothing

June 21, 2016

It rained quite hard today which was really nice.  It cleared up in time for use to BBQ and eat outside – which we enjoyed.  The people in the RV’s around us are getting friendly – I am making a point as I walk around to start conversations – which isn’t that difficult.   Everyone has a story to tell and they love someone who will listen, and  I am a good listener.  Met a man in the laundry room in Las Cruces.  We chatted and worked on a jigsaw puzzle together while JY did laundry.  Found out he lives in Gilbert, which is about 20 miles from where we live – small world.

June Yvonne is working on her notes for the Sephardic Festival panel discussion she is participating in.  We each have our own computers and enjoy working on the blog which I hope everyone enjoys.  We may not be able to post something every day as “doing nothing” might get in the way.

We have a hummingbird feeder on the other side of our dining area window and a Ruby Throated hummingbird has been frequenting it quite a bit lately – we are hoping that he/she will keep returning now that they knows where it is.  We drove into Angel Fire today to look around and get a couple of items at the grocery store.  This is basically a ski resort town that is packed in the winter months. When you walked in the grocery store you were immediately struck by the huge display of liquor, wine and beer – quite impressive actually.  I mentioned it to the cashier and he said in the winter time it’s hard to keep it fully stocked – it flies off the shelf.  He said Angel Fire was a drinking town with a skiing problem.

It would seem that doing nothing would be easy but it is not – at least for me.  I’ve been practicing by not getting wrapped up in dashing off to see this or that.  No busy “got to get going” schedule.  I’m spending more time reading and plan to do things only when I get the urge.  There are a lot of things to see and do here and if we don’t get to a lot of them we are perfectly OK with that.  Quiet is good – I am giving myself permission to stop, be still for a while and do nothing.

I have had a way of thinking about my life for many years.  Just as all of us do I know I only have so many days left to live – how many I don’t know.  I realize that whatever I did today I traded one day of my life to do it.  I try to remember to ask myself at the end of each day “was today a good trade”.  I hope it was.  I hope tomorrow will be a good trade also.  These last few days with the RV enjoying the scenery, the sounds, the breeze and the rain have all been good trades – enjoying all of it with June Yvonne only makes those trades that much more special.   PRC

We visited with an RC friend yesterday. She lives in Arroyo Seco, outside of Taos. Before going to see her we walked around town looking at the many artisan shops. It was a friendly group of artists and town people. The folks at one pottery shop invited us to soak our feet in the stream outside the store. I took them up on their offer, took off my shoes and sat in a chair cooling my jets in the little stream. We visited with this amiable group for awhile admiring the artists work, especially the wine cups. (We didn’t buy anything though.) They offered us some of their beer which Peter drank with them.

Afterwards we went to Beth’s home. The adobe house she and her partner live in belonged to his grandmother. The feel and the atmosphere reminded me so much of my Nana.

Today we didn’t do much besides going into the town of Angel Fire. I spent most of the day working on a presentation. I am on a panel at the Sephardic Festival speaking on being a Crypto-Jew. I will share it with you  if you are interested.

We will head down to Santa Fe Friday for the Sephardic Festival and a conference sponsored by the Society of Crypto-Judaic Jews. (Two separate events) The Sephardic Festival is on Friday night/Saturday. It  will include Shabbat dinner Friday night at a local Santa Fe restaurant.  The next day we will go to a museum to see an exhibit entitled “Fractured Faiths.” It includes the Edict of Expulsion of Jews from Spain. The Conference for the Society of Crypto-Judaic Jews is Sunday -Tuesday. It is jam packed with seminars including one on geneology. You can be sure I will be attending that one.

So, Peter will be dropping me off in Santa Fe on Friday morning and pick me up Tuesday. I will be staying at a hotel rooming with a couple of friends including a fellow Crypto-Jew from Texas. She will be showing some of her artwork at the conference.

I’m not sure what Peter will be doing while I’m in Santa Fe. Maybe practicing the Art of Doing Nothing. Or maybe fishing. Either would be good for him.  JY