When The Days Are Long

The author Gretchen Rubin coined the term ‘The days are long, but the years are short’. We were experiencing a good dose of the former yesterday. I told Dave when we went to bed that the day felt like it lasted 100 years. We were all feeling like this and I can’t pinpoint exactly why. Braxton asked me at 3pm when I was going to cook dinner. This is not a new feeling for us. We had days back in Colorado when we felt the same way. However, this was the first time since we’ve been gone that we got a generous helping of it. This was a good reminder that life follows you no matter where you are.

Lingering in the Lull

We often say in our family ‘we don’t fix boredom with money’. What we mean by that is when you’re bored, it’s ok to sit in that boredom. It was rainy most of the morning, and Alexis had a bit of swimmers ear so we needed to stay out of the water. We did the usual tasks of Duolingo and each did some reading. We sat down by the pool for a while and sat on the patio watching the birds. The day passed slowly. Someone told me before we left home, that the one month mark would be hard. Is that what we were feeling?

A Luxury Called Boredom

I would describe Dave and I as productive people. For me, growing up on a farm I was often told ‘there is always something that can be done’. Maybe we were missing the feeling of productivity. Being schedule-free has moments when it is amazing. I know our current lifestyle is such a privilege. I recognize that complaining about boredom is a very first world problem. However, sometimes it feels like we need something to anchor our day. I’m sure this will improve once we start school. Although, I imagine during those days there will be times we wish we could be schedule-free. I was raised to fill the hours, now I just need to learn how to let them pass.

Tide Turned and Spirits Lifted

We all felt better today. We spent the morning at the beach and ran into an American family from Florida. I engaged them in conversation almost the second I heard them speaking English. I may have been slightly starved for conversation outside my wonderful little family. We explored a new area of the beach that is rocky and Braxton enjoyed discovering all the creatures living within the rocks.

I know the hard times are when we will grow the most. It’s easy to remember that in hind sight, but awfully hard to sit with in the moment. Especially when the day is long.