February 13, 2012

Monday, the beginning of the week, of the work week, going back to the most entrenched routines, ones we can't function without.  Listening to the news, traffic, weather, we make our plans.  Today the forecast is 100% for rain, how often do you hear them say 100% of anything, so we are pretty sure to get wet sometime today.  It's just graying outside, the trees are stepping forth in their dark trunks, their branches streaks of ink against the flat sky.  The school bus rounds the corner, the paper is lying out in the yard, a single mocking bird is making a run of songs and cheeps somewhere close. This is the time of day people get up, bleary-eyed, and make something hot to drink, coffee or tea, or perhaps here in this neighborhood, it's Dr. Pepper in the morning or Coke, just a little something to open your eyes and get a kick start for the routine.  Honey is grinding the beans in the very noisy grinder as I write this, going through the ritual of the morning coffee, with gurgling water, and a raft of taps and bangs.

For work this morning, I found a poem this weekend that is a great way to start a Monday, for the sly way it puts a smile on my face, even while acknowledging that work, especially at this early hour is not always something we look forward to, even such small work as I do <grin>!

Self Employed

     For Harvey Shapiro

I stand and listen, head bowed,
to my inner complaint.
Persons passing by think
I am searching for a lost coin.
You're fired, I yell inside
after an especially bad episode.
I'm letting you go without notice
or terminal pay. You just lost
another chance to make good.
But then I watch myself standing at the exit,
depressed and about to leave,
and wave myself back in wearily,
for who else could I get in my place
to do the job in dark, airless conditions?

David Ignatow
So who does fire the self-employed?  And how many times have you given your work another chance, even though there are days you would be glad to fire it on the spot? Even the just routines are sometimes a little more acceptable if you break them occasionally.  I love . . . "and wave myself back in wearily"  and "who else could I get in my place" because there is no one so often, you just have to keep doing what you are doing, keep doing the job, wether it's working for someone, for yourself, for your family . . . just keep doing the daily work.

It's light now, gray flat light but time to leave, to do the morning work, because this morning I have waved myself on into the day, the fretwork of routine making it easier to keep doing what I am doing, what I often love to do, once I have gotten past going <smile>.