Today was a surprisingly productive day. I crossed a larger-than-expected number of things off my unrealistically long to-do list, kept work on deadline, and serendipitously timed my swim to end at the very moment the thunder rumbled, prompting the lifeguard to whistle swimmers out of the pool. Success on every front.
Not every day is like this, because I have the attention span of a fruit fly. Yesterday, for example, I was working peacefully as clean clothes tumbled in the dryer. When the timer buzzed, I got up to fold the clothes, then I noticed some dirt on the family room floor, so I abandoned a t-shirt mid-fold and plugged in the vacuum cleaner. As I vacuumed, I wondered what the family room would look like if I moved furniture piece A to spot B, and then furniture piece B into spot A. It didn't work as well as I thought it would, so I moved the furniture back to where it had been. Not, however, before vacuuming the spots where the pieces had been, and then moving a few other furniture items to vacuum underneath,
Back to work. But wait, the clothes weren't folded!
The report that I was copyediting contained a discussion of a country whose fiscal position is untenable; however, that country continues to increase spending and cut taxes ahead of looming elections. The day of reckoning will come, I suppose. As I worked, I thought that I saw a metaphor for my life amid the talk of debt-to-GDP ratios and impending fiscal collapse. I should have written it down, but at just that moment, I noticed some dirt on the kitchen floor. The kitchen floor, once clean, made the countertops look pretty squalid by comparison. By the time I had brought the countertops up to my standard, the metaphoric connection between my life and a South American economic disaster, which was already tenuous to begin with, had evaporated altogether. All wasn't lost, though. The laundry was done, the kitchen was pretty clean, and I met my deadline. South America should be so lucky.
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