Presence, Unpolished: Daily Examen

Dirt Is Sneaky

June 3, 2023

Didn’t have to look much around the house to find cobwebs for this photo.

I confess that I am not the best housekeeper.

My house would not win any awards for cleanliness. I have cobwebs (that you mostly notice when the light is right) and dust bunnies and dust on the knickknacks that are on shelves above the fireplace. Every once in a while, I think about dusting, and then the dirt swirls around me and I cough and take the dust rags outside to shake them and set the dust free.

I’m Ok with a little dirt, especially if it’s high up in areas where I don’t notice it much. Is that a trait you can inherit? My Mom had a plaque that said, “God made dirt. It won’t hurt.”

But.

I didn’t think it was that bad.

We did a little work in my son’s bedroom earlier this week. Seemed like a good time, an opportune moment, since his high school graduation was a week ago, ushering in summer and a new era for him. We moved things around, filled a box with clothes and books for the Goodwill (including his Harry Potter Halloween costume from third grade and t-shirts that were too small), filled another bag with trash (An AP Chem notebook, his Boy Scout merit badge checklists). There were a million Legos on the floor. (I stepped on a few of them.) My son is in the process of sorting them into boxes and bins. I’m thinking that will be project that will take most of the summer. Continue Reading…

Presence

Ironing Is Terrible

May 20, 2023

This was how my day started.

(My wise friends say I should buy a steamer! They might be right! But then what would I have had to write about this week?)

I ironed my son’s graduation robe the other morning. He had to wear it for the senior awards assembly at school. All the seniors put on their gowns and hats and marched in together as the rest of the school and a handful of parents watched. It was a lovely ceremony with many students honored for their years of academic and athletic achievements.

I remember many of my son’s classmates from when I volunteered in their classrooms when they were in elementary school. They all have gotten so smart (and tall!). Many of them are heading off to college to study things like applied physics and environmental engineering and music and global studies (that last one is my son’s).

So all of that was great!

The thing that was not so great?

The ironing of the robe first thing this morning, because I was too tired to do it last night.

I hate ironing.

I hate ironing and my son has never ironed anything in his life, so while I’m sure some would argue that it should be his responsibility to iron his own graduation robe, I decided that this would be a challenge we would tackle another day.

I have read books about people who enjoy ironing. They find it meditative.

This has never been my experience. Continue Reading…