Over the past 18 months I’ve read 184 books. I’m just beginning No. 185, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel
Garcia Marquez. Thank you to the many
people who have sent me books, particularly Blogmaster T, who is known as “The
Book Man” by the guys in the Unit. The
books range in length from the 100 pages of Camus’ The Stranger to 1000+ pages of Bolano’s 2666. These books have had
me laughing out loud, crying, learning about the world and about myself. I’ll read anything, or at least give it a try. Then I pass the book along to someone who
might enjoy it. Everybody knows I’ve
always got a book or two in my bag.
I say all this not in any attempt to impress you with my
erudition, but to point out another prison truth, the spectacular, mind-numbing
amount of time we have on our hands. For
example, if you consider the average number of hours I spend on daily activities
(Sleep = 7.5 hours, Meals = 1.5 hours, Work = 3 hours, exercise = 1.5 hours,
and reading = 2 hours), I’ve still got 8.5 hours to fill every day and nothing much to
do. I started crocheting, but how many
coasters does my family really need? I
watch some tv, maybe write a letter, shower, even take a nap, and I’ve
still got hours to kill. Even the
busiest guy on the compound will admit to having too much down time. We sit around talking about how much we miss
household chores. Mowing the lawn,
cleaning out the gutter, unclogging a drain, digging a ditch (filling it up and
digging it again, whatever!).
ANYTHING! Most of us would kill
for a “honey do” list. Yeah, I know your
mom taught you that only boring people are bored, but whoever came up with that
line never did time in prison. You’d
never believe how arduous having nothing to do can be. I meditate, take a self-directed Spanish
course, crochet some more and stay just occupied enough to stave off insanity! I figure it's got to be better than sleeping all day
like some guys do. So I ship out the
coasters, gladly dive into a new book, scribble a blog post like this. Smile everyone, so far I’m winning the battle with
boredom and staying true to being me.
This is a test to see why my comments are not posting.
ReplyDeleteYour comments are posting and they are appreciated. Sharing with C via snail mail every time you post one. Thanks.
DeleteI have a brother who is almost 70. He pretty much sits around all do with nothing to do. He thinks I am nuts because at 65 I am still looking for at least part time work in addition to managing my own properties. Rest up now and when you are 70 you too will have plenty of energy to do that honey do list.
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