I Wonder

 September 6, 2020

I often wonder how city apartment dwellers spend their time. Yesterday, most of the day was spent helping my son wire the bedroom he is remodeling for his daughter, with a memorial service for one of the matriarchs of our church in the middle of the day. Today, worship in Sinclaiville at 8:30 followed by preaching at 9:45 in Cassadaga morphed into a quick lunch before heading back to Cassadaga for a memorial funeral service. Linda and I were able to catch a favorite TV show before going to her sister’s for our annual Labor Day weekend corn roast.

We have a tree down beside the house that needs the brush to be cleaned up and the logs sawed up. I have to finish pointing the rock chimney where the old mortar is crumbling, and the stonework in our entryway need to be sealed. My motorcycle blew a fuel line last week, so that needs replacing, along with much-needed general maintenance. The lawn needs mowing, I have a variety of indoor projects, and before long we’ll be canning applesauce and grape juice. 

Through the winter I’ll plow the driveway, bring in firewood, and tackle the indoor work. But I still wonder...when one lives in an apartment where the maintenance is done for you, where there are no big chores to be done, when one doesn’t own a vehicle that needs to be maintained, what do people do with all their time?

I’ve talked with urbanites who cannot imagine living where the only stores in town is a small grocery/deli/hardware and a Dollar General, where at night you can hear the howl of coyotes, and you have to drive for an hour or more to see a real play. For me, I cannot imagine living where instead of the creek laughing over the shale in my backyard, I hear the constant honking of traffic; instead of the whine of a chainsaw from the villager who cuts firewood for a living there is the chatter of gangs shooting at each other. Tonight we listened to the peepers singing in the trees as we sat around a campfire. We live a blessed life, surrounded by family and friends, bathed in the grace and mercy shown us in Jesus Christ, and I am deeply grateful that God placed me here in this sleepy small village so many years ago.