JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: In past years, JRW conversations in August have been about trips, summer camp, fairs and festivals, summer blockbusters and 
pedicures. Well, except for the (self-administered) pedicures, none of that is happening this August. So...what to write about? I checked “This Day In History” and discovered August 10 has been largely awful throughout recorded time (except for 1622, when Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason were granted the patent for the Province of Maine from the Plimouth Council for New England.) Then I decided to check holidays and I hit gold.
pedicures. Well, except for the (self-administered) pedicures, none of that is happening this August. So...what to write about? I checked “This Day In History” and discovered August 10 has been largely awful throughout recorded time (except for 1622, when Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason were granted the patent for the Province of Maine from the Plimouth Council for New England.) Then I decided to check holidays and I hit gold.
August 10 is National Lazy Day.
Yes! Official cover to live my best life. I confess it, I love laziness. I can spend a whole Saturday morning in bed, reading the New York Times, playing Ultimate Jewel on my phone,and otherwise being a total drain on society’s resources. BC (Before Children,) Ross and I would stop at Joe’s Smoke Shop after church, buy the actual physical Times and the Boston Globe, and proceed to spend three-plus hours at one of Portland’s brunch spots, dining, drinking, and swapping the sports section for the arts and culture pages. (Don’t worry, we tipped very well.)
“Before Children” is the operative phrase, because having a child of any age in the house is the ultimate enemy of repose. (A puppy, as Lucy and Ann are discovering, is the PENultimate.) First, you’re rising at dawn to feed and diaper them and keep them from electrocuting themselves. Then, you’re rising at dawn to get them off to school and to chauffeur them around to their events. Finally, they’re young adults and back living with you - because of course they are - and you’re rising at dawn in order to get work done before the rest of the household gets up at ten eleven noon.
This is tragic, because I am a person who does sloth very well. I loll, I flop, I veg, I nap. I can be lazy with a book, with the TV, or - one of the best sorts of lazy - just sitting in a pretty place with a drink and no time limit. This is in contrast with my sister, who is one of those people who can’t be idle. Downtime for her means only working on one task instead of three. Or my friend Roxanne, who began her long-delayed staycation from her high-pressure job by...painting her front porch. I tried to persuade her to let the porch peel while she sat in a rocking chair with a glass of lemonade and a novel, but some of us do not have the gift of indolence.
How about you, Reds? Are you someone who needs to be doing? Or can you lounge about unproductively? And if you can, what is your preferred mode of laziness?
RHYS BOWEN : I’m a doer, Julia. I am not good at lolling, relaxing. If we go to a lovely beach in the sun I’m great for the first day, lying under an umbrella and reading a book. But then I’m telling John that we can rent kayaks, take Spanish lessons, visit historic sites. And I can’t go more than a couple of weeks without writing. This is why I’ll be up to Royal Spyness book 54 by the time I turn 90.
JENN McKINLAY: I’m the worst sort because I think I’m being idle but the fam will tell you that I’m a fraud. I schedule 
“people watching” in between “getting coffee” and “surf lessons” on the vacation itinerary and pretend I’m being all relaxed and chill when what I’m really doing is taking thirty minutes to study people because that’s what writers do -- so I’m actually working. I’m terrible at doing nothing, which is why the only time I read is during those precious hours before I fall asleep. My favorite part of the day.
“people watching” in between “getting coffee” and “surf lessons” on the vacation itinerary and pretend I’m being all relaxed and chill when what I’m really doing is taking thirty minutes to study people because that’s what writers do -- so I’m actually working. I’m terrible at doing nothing, which is why the only time I read is during those precious hours before I fall asleep. My favorite part of the day.
HALLIE EPHRON: When it comes to lazing about, I’m improving my skills. I’m still not good at doing nothing, but these days I can stretch out “deciding what to make for dinner” into an hour-long project that involves excavating a packed freezer and vegetable drawer, followed by several 
visits to epicurious.com to check out what they suggest doing with the disparate ingredients I manage to corral. It can take me thirty minutes to rearrange my office and computer set up to eliminate my double chin and highlight my awards and book posters for a Zoom meeting. Another half hour to put on makeup and decide what to wear. And I manage to squeeze in the Boston Globe, New York Times, and Washington Post daily. Also a terrific short free newsfeed that I highly recommend for news-consuming lazy people: Axios.com.
visits to epicurious.com to check out what they suggest doing with the disparate ingredients I manage to corral. It can take me thirty minutes to rearrange my office and computer set up to eliminate my double chin and highlight my awards and book posters for a Zoom meeting. Another half hour to put on makeup and decide what to wear. And I manage to squeeze in the Boston Globe, New York Times, and Washington Post daily. Also a terrific short free newsfeed that I highly recommend for news-consuming lazy people: Axios.com.
LUCY BURDETTE: Not good at lazing, especially these days. How am I launching one book, finishing another, and managing a new puppy during a pandemic and a week-long blackout? Not well! You would think it would force relaxation but that hasn’t worked so far. I think I need lessons on this….
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Failure. Utter. Example: Recently, completely over-scheduled and totally nuts, I said to Jonathan, "I am going to just SIT HERE and watch TV for 30 whole minutes and not get up and not do anything else. No email-answering, no graphic design, no shipping, no laundry folding, no social media." And he looked at me like I was nuts. "That's what people do," he said.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Failure. Utter. Example: Recently, completely over-scheduled and totally nuts, I said to Jonathan, "I am going to just SIT HERE and watch TV for 30 whole minutes and not get up and not do anything else. No email-answering, no graphic design, no shipping, no laundry folding, no social media." And he looked at me like I was nuts. "That's what people do," he said.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: I claim NATIONAL LAZY DAY as mine!! I am very good at sloth! I can spend a Saturday or 
Sunday morning reading three newspapers and reheating my coffee. My dream vacation is to lie in a hammock with a book, or to sit in a London or Paris sidewalk cafe and watch the world go by. I can sit and watch the koi swim in my pond--so relaxing. Unfortunately, I don't get to indulge my laziness all that often, as there are always THINGS TO DO. So annoying. I think Julia and I should take a sloth holiday together...
Sunday morning reading three newspapers and reheating my coffee. My dream vacation is to lie in a hammock with a book, or to sit in a London or Paris sidewalk cafe and watch the world go by. I can sit and watch the koi swim in my pond--so relaxing. Unfortunately, I don't get to indulge my laziness all that often, as there are always THINGS TO DO. So annoying. I think Julia and I should take a sloth holiday together...
JULIA: The doers versus dreamers in our group broke out exactly as I suspected. We Reds have talked about doing a river cruise or some other sort of trip together - I can see now it will be me and Debs lounging on the deck while Rhys, Hank, Hallie, Jenn and Roberta take city tours, cooking classes and hiking excursions.
How about you, dear readers? Can you be a layabout? Or is your idea of relaxation doing just one more thing?
Red Hot News! Julia's 6th Clare Fergusson/Russ van Alstyne mystery, I SHALL NOT WANT, is a Kindle Daily Deal and is available at all US and Canadian ebook retailers for only $2.99! But hurry - this deal is only good for August 10th! Click here for sales links.
Red Hot News! Julia's 6th Clare Fergusson/Russ van Alstyne mystery, I SHALL NOT WANT, is a Kindle Daily Deal and is available at all US and Canadian ebook retailers for only $2.99! But hurry - this deal is only good for August 10th! Click here for sales links.
Who knew there was a day made just for being lazy? Oh, I can most definitely manage lying around, enjoying the opportunity to do absolutely nothing . . . .
ReplyDeleteAnd this is definitely the right time of the year to do it!
DeleteI love this! Since I finished a first draft on Saturday, I SHOULD take advantage of Lazy Day. I could go to the beach, except my beach chair broke last year. I could sit around here reading all day. But I'm in the Energizer Bunny category. The only time I really laze around is after I've had some kind of surgery and it's enforced. I live with someone in the Relaxed class and he's always telling me I'm too busy... Can Julia and Debs give lessons? Tips?
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure it's baked in, Edith. My sister and I were raised in the same house, had the same chores and homework expectations, both worked summer jobs as teens, but as adults I can happily spend the day doing nothing more strenuous than making another pot of tea to drink while reading a book, and she gets antsy if she's not doing something productive sixteen hours a day.
DeleteSloth is such a delicious luxury. I'm quite good at it. Or I try to be, although the world tends to interfere. Example: yesterday, I was lazing on my front porch swing with a good book, totally enjoying doing NOTHING, when my tearful neighbor came over asking if I'd seen her cat. Dropped the book, of course, and went off to search the farm sheds and workshops for kitty. Never really got back to the porch swing OR the book. But I'm all in for celebrating National Lazy Day... right after I write a few pages, do some research, make some phone calls, work on my newsletter... Oh, drat.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's the problem, Annette. Even those of us who are good at idleness don't get much of a chance...
DeleteUnlike most of the Reds, I'm an Olympic caliber lazy person. Oh sure, I get done what absolutely has to be done on a given day but once I have finished that stuff, I have no issue with doing absolutely nothing at all.
ReplyDeleteI can just sit on the couch and watch TV or read with the best of them. Yesterday, I had to vacuum and do some laundry. Once that stuff was done, the rest of the day was spent watching TV until I went to bed. There were breaks in the laziness to get some dinner and such but I like not having to run around like the Energizer Bunny (thanks for that reminder, Edith!) getting one thing after another done.
The bad side effect of being this level of lazy is that during the pandemic, it has led to a weight gain that I'm not happy about. So I'm going to have to curtail at least some measure of my laziness to get back down to where I was.
And I don't get to take advantage of National Lazy Day today because I'll be at work sweating my butt off (figuratively at least) as we try to get more of our products made.
Debs and I are happy to claim you for the lazy team, Jay, even if you do have to work your butt off today!
DeleteAnd here I thought I was Queen of the laziness! I am really a champion time-waster but I tell myself that sitting around and thinking my thoughts is important, much more important than the never-ending housework. Glad to know there are other wonderful people like me, hello Julia and Debs!
ReplyDeleteA very lazy high five to you, Judi!
DeleteLazy Day! Here we call it the lazy pandemic. I do get one walk a day in, but it isn't very energetic. And only Penny gets walks so far. Sergeant Pepper can't leave the yard until he's had all his shots.
ReplyDeleteBut Himself does take a lot of attention. He wakes up around 6:30, has to go potty, play a bit, and then have his breakfast. Today I managed to get him to wait until I got dressed, closed up the upstairs windows as this will be an AC day, and make the bed.
Still I've gained the Covid 10. I've booked marked a couple of exercise classes on You Tube, so today is the day.
I envy those with tons of energy who spend their days writing books, hiking, doing all sorts of physical things, useful things. But I refuse to think that being busy is better than being lazy. Being lazy prepared me for all this sheltering in place crap. I'm good with staying home, staying away from public places, and our extraordinarily beautiful summer weather allows socially distanced patio visits from friends on occasion. We don't even serve drinks or food! Or have to tidy up the living room! Talk about lazy!
Sorry I missed you last night, Lucy/Roberta. Life intervened and I couldn't attend the Drowdcast launch of the new book. Hank, I've finished THE FIRST TO LIE. Thank you for a great read. I wasn't able to download it from Net Galley, thus had to wait until it arrived on my Kindle last week.
That's impressive that you could get your baby to wait through all those chores! Lottie has to go out right then at that exact moment:). Last night I dreamed that someone dropped off two 5-year old dogs and a cat at my house and I had to find homes for them. Panic!!
DeleteAnn, don't worry, more zooms to come. One tomorrow at 5 with Copperfish books, one on the 18th with Debs at Books and Books Key West, and one with all of the Reds together at Poisoned Pen!
It was a wonderful launch, with sisters and Hallie!
DeleteI was feeling smug until BOTH dogs pooped in the house. Penny did it while I was getting dressed, closing windows, all those upstairs chores. Pepper waited until after he ate and before I put him outside, my fault, that one. (I stepped in both.)
DeletePoor Ann! In my house, it always seems to be cat barf...
DeleteWe have our share of cat barf but it doesn’t smell
DeleteI am all about the sloth. I can spend hours sitting and reading a book, my only interruptions to get up and get a drink or use the bathroom. Ah, if only I could actually do it more often.
ReplyDeleteThis is a counterpart to The Hubby, who is definitely a doer! If he doesn't have a project to fill his day, he's antsy. That is, until the evening when he can cheerfully watch 3-4 hours of TV before he goes to bed. :)
This sounds a lot like me and Ross, Liz. He was a bit of a workaholic, and when he switched careers from the law to elementary education, he filled the time with house stuff and being my marketing manager. Except in the evening, when he would fall asleep while a) reading b) watching TV or c) listening to a ball game.
DeleteMaybe busy people are busy because doing nothing is a soporific for them?
That could very well be, Julia.
DeleteI am in training for lazing: On Saturday, I spent a lovely time on my front patio, reading. I might have occasionally gotten up to pull an errant weed from the big flower bed, but otherwise simply enjoyed myself with my book.
ReplyDeleteBut I wish to raise a fine point: It's a fine line between the four-letter verb ' to rest' and the four-letter verb 'to sloth' (that's a verb, no?). Isn't it? Advice needed, please.
Doesn't sloth have five letters ? Maybe sloth is a rest pushed a little further. LOL
DeleteDanielle: Yes, indeed, sloth has five letters. Sometimes the intended meaning of 'four letter word' in an English-speaking context is 'swear word' or bad language. I was hoping that no one would notice my bad adding skills and would assume I meant that...but you're too sharp for that!
DeleteAmanda, it is just that with my French upbringing I didn't catch the " four letter word " meaning.
DeleteI can be slothful and lazy and enjoy myself immensely, then get up and look around and guilt starts nibbling at the edges of my happy mood. Drat! Need tips on how to keep that under control :-)
DeleteThis pandemic has changed me. I used to be a person constantly in motion, dance karate, horseback riding, hiking. In the last 5 days I've read 3 books and written 2 reviews. I never, ever, ever sat around like this before. I do not know where that "Dayhiker" has gone, but I need her back. At my age, if you stop moving, you eventually will not be able to move. Part of it is that there was always a dog to take those long walks with, but poor Kenai is exhausted after a walk around the block and then sleeps all day.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I will not celebrate a lazy day, no, not me. I am going to do something today, like maybe clear off the dining room table which is groaning under the weight of calendars from all the organizations who hope I'll be generous this year.
Happy Lazy Day, Julia and Debs. Rhys, you write the 54 Royal Spyness books and I'll happily read them until I'm 90.
Judy, I was trying to figure out how old Georgie would be if Rhys got to 54 books. It's only been from 1933 to, I think 1935 in fourteen novels, so number 54 should just get us to the beginning of WWII!
DeleteMy initial reaction was that I'm very good at sloth. Reading everyone else's responses, though, I recognize that there are multiple definitions. I'm not so good at truly doing nothing. Sitting on a beach staring at the waves, that sort of thing. I get fidgety super fast, and I can't turn off the noise inside my head.
ReplyDeleteBut doing nothing SIGNIFICANT slowly and luxuriously? I'm very good at that. I love reading, of course, and can do that for hours on end, pausing only long enough to refresh my beverage and take a bathroom break. Browsing the web for new recipes can easily consume an afternoon. Likewise for reorganizing my own recipes, or going down some rabbit-hole of internet research.
If I do want to let my mind wander free, it is best if some part of my body is busy -- hiking in the woods, kayaking on a creek, that sort of thing. It seems like either my mind or my body needs to be in motion, but I can limit it to one or the other.
Susan, I think you've described my kind of laziness to a T. I love to be lazy while looking at home decor blogs online, or reading, or chatting with friends. And I can turn off my head when taking a long walk or swimming. Sitting at the beach almost always involves reading or gabbing - not just wave-watching.
DeleteAfter being run over by a train of autoimmune issues, I excel as sloth! Each day I do the things that most urgently need to be done, then I'm done for the day. That's usually around 3pm. After that I read, write, or (on a bad fatique day) go to bed and watch TV.
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of National Lazy Day but my WIP is calling to me. School starts at the end of this month so I want to use the extra writing time while I can.
Cathy, I know we've spoken about this before. For many people, being "lazy" is called pacing yourself, and it's vital (if frustrating) to maintain some quality of life.
DeleteEverything in life is relative : money, time , rest , work. For long years I thought I was a lazy person ( which was a capital sin with all the guilt it brings ) because I compared myself to others. But at 61 when I learned I was an introvert and that my energy was gained and spent differently than the majority, I understood myself and dumped the culpability.
ReplyDeleteYes I am able to read all day long and to take my time but if things have to be done, I do them. After that, I do what I like.
You can call it rest or sloth if you're never able to stop. Everyone is different and that' s interesting.
Julia, with four adults in the house sould not the tasks be separated more equally ?
Rhys, if I'm still on earth when you publish the 54th Royal Spyness, I'll read it. Presently reading The Last Mrs Summers and loving it.
Danielle, you're right, there are four adults doing more tasks than I mentioned. Guest Son does all the yard, garden and wood-splitting, the Maine Millennial is in charge of cleaning the kitchen, vacuuming and is our "quartermaster" - doing all the online shopping. And Youngest fills in when we need her, although she's busy with classes (online) and a job (also online.)
DeleteIt's simply that with four people living in a house, there's MORE of everything, and therefore more work to manage everything!
What a great topic. And Julia, I love the photos you chose for this blog.
ReplyDeleteI have decided I'm an intermittent sloth, interspersed with bouts of frenetic activity. No wonder I need breaks.
You're bi-loafer, Karen!
DeleteWe had a week of cool temperatures, and I heaved and re-arranged enough of the boxes in the garage to pull my car in! Now that we're back to Cincinnati hazy-hot-humid, I'm trapped indoors draped over the a/c vent or with the ceiling fan on high speed, reading in a lounge chair on the porch. Definitely too hot for weeding.
ReplyDeleteI suspect there's a reason National Lazy Day is in the middle of August, and not in January, Margaret!
DeleteI am in the Master class when it comes to lazing. Reading and watching a tv program sing loudly to me in a way household chores never will. I do not indulge in guilt when postponing chores; only regret that they do not do themselves. And I know chores are neverending, whereas quiet and pleasure at doing "nothing" can be fleeting. That is everyday laziness. Vacations are a different animal where my energy kicks up and I want to explore and enjoy the change of scenery.
ReplyDeletePat, those are wise words indeed. You remind me of what my mother would say when I was a stay-at-home mom with little kids fretting about the mess which seemed to be everywhere. "Cleaning house goes on forever. You only have your children for a short time."
DeletePro-level sloth here. I'm just waking up from a two-day sloth binge (except the word "binge" sounds so energetic) during which I did no laundry, did no grocery shopping, did only the tiniest bit of housework, lived on sandwiches and Chinese delivery, and took lots of naps. I also finished Catriona McPherson's "Quiet Neighbors"--a book that involves lots of scenes in which people read. Fortunately for my overall fitness, I have four border collies, who rouse me from my rest to let them out, let them in, and feed them.
ReplyDeleteGigi, I'm impressed at your mastery of idleness and I bow down to you (in a kind of slow, slouchy way.) We need to think of a word that means binge but can be applied to laziness. A sloth introversion? A sloth entropy?
DeleteSloth slough? Sloth meditation? Sloth retreat? A restorative sloth? Sloth recovery? Mine was mostly the result of excessive heat and insomnia. I spent the weekend indoors, sleeping in three hour chunks.
DeleteI said I was slothful, but spent the weekend doing way too many chores in way too much heat. Now I need a nap!!
ReplyDeleteA nap is very on-brand, Debs.
DeleteI can laze around with the best of them. I find I need a little of that in my life, and usually Saturday is a get very little done day. If I try to get too much done, it takes me forever. But laze around on Saturday, and the same tasks take much less time on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteI need some deadlines to be productive. But I also need that laze around time.
I'm like you, Mark. It's not that I can't be busy and productive (I'll pause for everyone to point out it took six years to turn out my last book...) but I absolutely need to balance it with downtime, or else I find myself spinning in circles, unable to put things together in an efficient fashion.
Deleteoh oh oh I claim the title: Queen of Laze. And here's one example of what I do that makes me a very happy Queen of Laze. Let's say I woke up this morning to the newest book from one of my favorite authors on my Kindle. I hop into the shower, hop out and put a little dab of my favorite Jo Malone cream on. Put some moisturizer on my face that hasn't seen make-up in months and months. Put on one of my favorite sets of comfies - a very soft cute "Vote Dammit" Tshirt from The Bitter Southerner ( bittersoutherner.com ) and yoga pants. Fix a perfect cup of French Press coffee and grab a pastry (I've gotten very good at my scone making!). Fluff up about a zillion pillows, crawl back onto my bed with Annabelle beside me and read my new book. And I think to myself - Life is Grand.
ReplyDeleteI'm so envious, Kaye. That sounds perfect, but I know I couldn't do it. I have learned, however, to sit on my balcony for a while and just watch and listen to wind in the trees, bird song, clouds overhead. For about ten minutes, then it's back to work.
DeleteKaye, I will say without reservation that you are Living Your Best Life!
DeleteI do sloth very well indeed. These days I do it even better than usual. Since I don’t mind being by myself (most of the time) I am easily entertained with solitary activities, such as reading, writing reviews, watching TV, watching the birds, or people watching (not so much now on the people watching). It’s not that I don’t enjoy doing things and seeing others, but I’m okay being still. I think learning to be still is a worthy accomplishment. My husband has not learned the art of being still, and he drives me a little nuts. Of course, he probably doesn’t understand how I can be still. I’m sure you’ve noticed I went from sloth to the art of being still. I can dress up sloth many ways. Another one of my talents.
ReplyDeleteKathy, I like "The Art of Being Still." We could turn it into a self-help books with lots of gorgeous photos... except that would take too much effort. :-)
Delete"The Art of Being Still." I love it!!!!
DeleteShalom Friends,
ReplyDeleteI take after my father. During the last of his working years, he worked for himself, set his own hours and generally was NOT a Type A personality. When we (his kids) were young, he made a point of not working overtime, preferring to be out in the park with us, hitting a baseball or a tennis ball.
After retiring, he more and more wouldn’t get up in the morning until eleven or noon, staying up as late as he wanted at night. He had a morning routine of puttering around his small apartment. He liked reading, but confined his reading to the New York Times most of his adult life. He had dozens of plants which he babied with dedication in a small corner of his living room.
He had four Scrabble boards, which he would play solitaire with the editions: French, Italian and Spanish in addition to English. He and his second wife once had a personal computer but it caught a virus and they never fixed or replaced it. He would have loved one but my stepmother was sort of a Luddite, preferring to spend money on eating out rather than on electronic toys of dubious usefulness.
In all these ways, I am very much like my father. The one big difference is that I have earbuds in my ears almost all of the time. Either music, audiobooks or podcasts all day long, even when I sleep. Otherwise, I am almost always on the computer or tablet or phone all of my free time. I have both an online and hardcover planner. I try not to have more than one appointment for the day and one for the night. My two brothers are very different from me but reflect my dad in different ways. More and more, I think these things are genetic. My dad is gone now 5-1/2 years but he died peacefully in his sleep just weeks before his 95 th birthday. I think of him often and sometimes even forget for a moment that I can’t call him on the phone.
By the way, my twitter motto is "There's a nap for that."
David, it sounds like your father was a wonderful man who knew how to live life richly and well. May his name be a blessing.
DeleteAnd I adore your Twitter motto - I may have to steal it sometime!
I really do want to get better at sloth...really, I do.
ReplyDeleteJenn, I finished PARIS last night - thank you! I loved it.
DeleteI celebrated, after all! An hour's nap on the couch with a kitten on me... Happy Lazy Day!
ReplyDeleteYay!
DeleteHas anyone thought of offering master classes in sloth? I'll sign up. If you ask me, I'll tell you I'm good at it. If you ask the people around me, they will laugh and point. My idea of sloth is doing less than three things at once and having only six items on the to do list. SIGH.
ReplyDeleteI think it's part and parcel of one's personality, Kait. You can definitely work on being better at bust or lazy, but the natural bent is always there.
DeleteAs for a master class, I always found paying for a Y membership made me get off my butt and go, so as not to waste money. Maybe paying for a beach vacation where there's nothing to do but lounge and read?
I'm more of a be-er than a doer. The way I look at it, be-ers are essential. I mean, who would the doers do for if not the be-ers? Who would read, who would watch movies and TV, etc.?
ReplyDeleteJudy, well said and I agree. "They also serve, who only sit and watch." :-)
DeleteLate to the party again! Great topic today. Sometimes I just feel lazy and do not want to do anything. I slept and slept this past few days because of a sinus infection, so I missed the last few days of reading Jungle Reds posts.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I am a doer and I want to move around every 20 minutes. Do a task for twenty minutes then move and do something else. It depends on my mood.
Reading at bedtime is a good time for me to relax and read.
Diana
I was going to clean today but I got up late so just read and watched TV. I usually do a Grokker exercise video since I subscribed. Since I'm retired, no one cares if I clean. LOL
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, I remember my family spent time on the front porch just watching the cars, lightning bugs, and a spider catching bugs on the street light. Later we listened to Francis Albert Sinatra or a baseball game on the radio. I spend some time just looking at my garden from the kitchen door or window. Stay safe and well.
Sally, it sounds like you have a masters degree in creative lazing. Brava.
DeleteAlas, I am not particularly good at being a sloth. I finished a novel revision this past Friday, and on Saturday relaxed by canning green beans and tomatoes. True--they were small batches, my husband had already bought the veggies, he really wanted us to do it, and we worked together. It was, indeed, relaxing. But I did have a chuckle at myself. Who finishes a final, hard push to the end of a major project, and relaxes the next day by participating in a veggie home-canning project?
ReplyDeleteBut I'm not particularly surprised by this. If I set a timer to just 'close my eyes' for 10-15 minutes, I'll either (a)get restless after 5, and find something to do, or (b) fall deeply asleep and smack the alarm off and snooze, from exhaustion, for a few hours--then wake up annoyed and groggy. Not sure that sounds like lazing about, though.
I just heard about National Lazy Day! I'm good at lounging around when I'm sucked into a good book. Otherwise, I'm horrible at being a sloth. I really like checking things off a to-do list!
ReplyDelete