With the days dwindling down and the long winter looming, it seemed such a waste to spend my whole Sunday inside, watching football and Nascar. So I didn’t. I didn’t leave home, of course, because being in the car would have been a waste. A waste of time, and a misuse of fossil fuel, when I have the green expanse of my own countryside just beyond the front door.

When the skinny black and white cat wandered through the yard, I left it alone. So did the birds, which is why I didn’t bother to chase the cat away. I want it to feel welcome to keep the rodent population under control, but not comfortable enough to go after my birds. I’m very protective of my birds. I fill the birdbath every day, and they appreciate it. They tell me the only way they can, by making lavish use of the facility.

It’s not as if I had a lot of free time, either to lounge in front of the TV or wander the acreage. Real life didn’t stop while I was preoccupied for the last two weeks, prepping for the audit. It’s too bad it didn’t, because I wouldn’t have fallen so far behind that a few bills didn’t get paid on time. I spent part of today making sure that doesn’t happen again (as much it’s possible to forestall my own neglect, indolence or prodigious inability to stay focused).