Almost Perfect Balance

I have had such a perfect stretch of balanced days that I almost hesitate to mention it.  I have this vision of wrathful gods turning around and saying, "Wait, we didn't notice you down in that corner of the U.S.  How dare you have that kind of balance?  We simply cannot allow that."

I've been having the kind of writing days when I both create new work and send "finished" work out into the world.  As I've been doing that work, I've also done the administrative and online teaching work that pays the bills.  It hasn't left me too exhausted--I'm always grateful for those kinds of work days. 

I've been eating enough fruits and veggies most days and getting enough sleep.  I have good books to read.  During my recent vacation in April, I read Jane Smiley's Some Luck, which is the first book in a trilogy; on Friday, I checked out the second book in the trilogy, hot off the press, from our local library.  It's wonderful too.

I've done some quilting.  I got great deals on quilting materials that we'll need for Vacation Bible School.  Some home repair issues weren't as difficult as I'd feared.

Of course, even a perfect week, like my past week, has imperfect moments.  My left eye gets red and irritated and goopy/crusty; it's an allergic reaction, and it only happens in my left eye.  When it's not flaring up, I have hopes that it's gone forever.

For the past week, it's been in full flare-up mode, which is not only unattractive, but slightly painful.  Sigh.  And I have the aches and pains in my feet and hands that make me wonder if arthritis is in my future.

And let me mention yesterday's lunch experience.  We had bought baby back ribs and planned to grill.   We got off to a great start.  I peeled potatoes and put the slices in a pot of water--mashed potatoes on the way.

Well, I let the pot boil dry, but managed to salvage some of the potatoes.  But when I tried to make mashed potatoes, they turned into a lumpy mess of glue.  Sigh.

Worse, when my spouse opened the grill, we saw flaming racks of ribs.  We were able to get a few pieces of meat, but most of the ribs were scorched to inedibility.

We rarely ruin a meal so thoroughly.  So that's something to be grateful for.

And we had invited our down-the-street neighbors, who just had a baby.  But they decided it was too early for an outing.  So at least we didn't ruin their meal too.

I think of the Amish theory of quilt making.  Amish quilters always intentionally make a mistake.  After all, only God can create perfection.

In a stretch of perfect days, I'm grateful that the imperfections are so small.  The flaming ribs didn't set anything else on fire.  Our health is mostly good.  Our houses hold together.

I know the stretch of perfect days will end:  in July, I'm scheduled to teach more online classes, which will tilt parts of my life off balance again.  Happily, they're classes I look forward to teaching, so the tip won't be too severe.

That's always the hope.