Stories - Chapter 03
Cades Cove
When we lived in Tennessee, we would go up into the mountains near Gatlinburg for picnics and day trips. I remember one time, we went to Cades Cove for the day and set up our picnic near a stream. George and I went into the water to play in the shallow stream. I decided I wanted a pool to swim in and proceeded to dam up the stream with the abundant supply of rocks on the stream bottom. George helped me some, but he soon lost interest. I worked long and hard and in fact succeeded in creating a nice three foot deep pool about twenty five feet across...and then Mother said it was time to go home to Knoxville. I had spent all of my time working and now had no time to enjoy the fruits of my labor.
I think of that experience fairly often, and try to balance work and play. I have worked hard most of my life just to make a living, and never really enjoyed life as much as I could have. Partly it was because I didn't have any extra money and partly it was because I didn't have any extra time. I have had a lot of experiences in life, but feel like fun was crammed in to an already busy schedule. I am hoping that now I can do more of the things that are important to me and less of the things that I have to do to be functional.
1/01/2010
