Posts Tagged ‘work life’
Different Worlds
One fact I have failed to report about the lake place is that the water level of Round Lake is the lowest anyone we’ve talked with can remember. The long dry months up there have taken a visible toll. Oddly, in addition to the unbelievably low water level, we’ve suddenly got beaver activity in our lagoon. There isn’t even enough water to flow all the way through to the culvert on the far end, but a beaver has started to build a dam near the entrance to the lake.
Underneath the walk bridge, there is a pile of branches that have been assembled. Nearby, the obvious tooth marks are all the way around the trunk of a good-sized birch tree. It would be a shame if it has already been doomed as a result. Our caretaker has been notified, and the proper agents are being contacted about pest management.
If it involves live capture and relocation, I hope it goes to a completely different lake. I’ve heard there are places that are seeking beaver dams to improve certain wetlands. That would be a perfect match.
Meanwhile, we have returned to Wintervale, where the horses seem content as ever, and Asher looks thrilled to be back on his usual territory.
Just as I suspected, I have my work cut out for me in controlling the growth of grass blades in all the areas that get regularly mowed. Unfortunately, I won’t get much done today, as I will be heading to the suburb of Hopkins, MN, this afternoon for a reunion of past employees of the company I was at for eighteen years at the beginning of my technical career.
I was unavailable for a gathering they held earlier in the summer, so it’s important to me to be able to make it this time. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen these folks, and I have fond memories of most everything about the place and the people who I had the good fortune of working with for so many years.
That period of my life feels like it is worlds away from where I am now. I’m looking forward to catching up with folks who meant an awful lot to me during our shared work lives at a very interesting company that manufactured high-technology surface analysis instruments used by industries (particularly semiconductor-related), universities, and government research institutions.
That’s a long way from caring for rescued horses and managing 20 rural acres in western Wisconsin.
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Any Day
Lately, I have noticed I am experiencing a pang of underlying guilt over not being fully aware of what day of the week it is. It is commonly expressed that the absence of a work schedule in one’s life will bring about this phenomenon of losing track of the days. It’s truly a luxury to not know. I feel rich beyond my means when I find myself basking in the gentle breezes through the trees at the lake on a Sunday evening when the majority of weekend vacationers have returned to their homes.
There were days throughout my years of gainful employment when I suffered under the pressure of showing up day after day for the grind of my multiple different day jobs. At the same time, I found myself rather well-suited to such a routine of scheduled days. I mostly looked forward to seeing people and tending to whatever business situations required attention.
I wasn’t very fond of being told the toilet wasn’t working in one of the restrooms, but most other issues were useful fodder for doing what I had been hired to do. It’s a bit of a shame that some issues continue to show up in my overnight dreams. Saturday night it felt like I worked hard all night long through multiple dreams. I was trying to train a new employee while simultaneously attempting to cope with other side issues and periodically straining to figure out why I was back at work again after having been gone for so many months.
I found myself semi-lucidly questioning the dream whenever I surfaced toward consciousness through the night and then regretting when a return to deep slumber brought the same dream back to right where it had left off.
During my working years, I had moments of envy for the people I knew who no longer noticed what day of the week it was, but I don’t recall ever begrudging them that luxury. Now that I have achieved that same privilege, I feel bad about celebrating it when so many others still have to log their time.
Facing the undeniable shared challenges of showing up on the first day of the work week. People compare stories of what each other’s weekend entailed and commiserate over the concept of a week ahead. Then, the survival strategy of lauding the midweek milestone of “hump day.” Finally, the thrill of reaching the last day of the week with its lure of soon-to-be-reached days away from the job.
This morning is simply another “any day” of the week for me. Cyndie will be staying up at the lake longer this week and I am driving home today with her mom. I’ll be on my own for a few days at Wintervale before heading right back up on the same day that Cyndie gets a ride home with a friend.
We’ll be like ships passing in the night on any old day of the week.
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