I do not worry about being boring. I know at the core of my being that boring is good news, boring is better than interesting, better than drama. There is a curse, “may you live in interesting times”. Being interesting is not a goal of mine. Here I write about being boring, it is the part of life I cherish the most. I am so boring I find other people’s boring lives interesting, comforting, real. I do not want to live in interesting times, globally, federally, provincially, municipally, or here at home in Mist Cottage.
Interesting comes into a life on its own, sometimes it sneaks in through the boring and innocuous looking cracks, and other times it blasts through walls. There is enough of it to go around, we get our share.
I don’t write much about the sad or scary parts of life here in this journal, about the disappointments and heartaches. Sometimes life can be very complex, and really, who can possibly comprehend the whole context of an experience or issue if they have not lived it. Attila gives understanding a fair go, as do I, but even after all these years together our understanding of each other is limited. Nothing trumps experience, and we each have our own. Humans are unique in many ways… that is something I love about humans.
Humans as individuals are a package deal, strengths and weaknesses, foibles and talents, we come as we are no matter how hard we may try to appear otherwise.
Well, enough talk about boring, back to just being it.
Attila painted the bare exterior concrete walls of the basement. Although no one else might notice it, we both think it makes the house look a lot better. Now Attila is digging a trench around the perimeter of the basement wall, and filling it with the load of gravel we had delivered yesterday. When that is done he will install a pressure treated wood skirting around the basement, shielding the waterproof membrane (black) from the elements.
I don’t know if it is a coincidence, or if we are onto something. The day Attila finished painting the exterior concrete, the radon level in the house failed to rise to dangerous levels overnight. It didn’t rise through the day, or since, to dangerous levels. It is a heat wave, the windows have remained closed. Did the paint job prevent the radon from entering the house? It is too early to tell. Attila has another theory, he thinks it might be because the weather is so dry here, that the radon is dissipating through the cracks in the soil. He could be right. Eventually we are going to discover how to keep those radon levels down 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
I got the call from the surgeon’s office booking the cataract surgery in one of my eyes, the date for the second eye was not established. The surgery will take place at the end of the summer, unless a cancellation comes up. I was advised to get the prescriptions needed for the surgery right away, just in case an earlier opening pops up. I am a bit nervous. I know it is a safe surgery, but it is possible to run into issues. I also wonder what it will be like to have one good eye that doesn’t need the glasses I am wearing, and one untreated eye that does need the glasses I am wearing. There could be quite a lag time between the first and the second surgery, when this would be the case.
After visiting the Service Canada website, we are hopeful that Attila’s Senior’s Dental Plan status has been rightfully reinstated. We got a letter directing Attila to provide proof that he had no benefits after his retirement, and proof of retirement date, that was done months ago and he has heard nothing official back from the government. It isn’t great to have only four teeth, making eating challenging, and it does show when Attila talks or smiles. After July 1st a call will go in to the dentist to see if they can access the plan for him, so he can move forward.
Our Prime Minister has announced investments in food production, processing, and distribution systems. Most of what is proposed are things I’ve been talking about for many many years (only implied here in the journal). The proposed strategy is a long term and systemic approach, not a quick fix or a magic bullet. This is no political “beer for bullies” populist appeal.
We Canadians have someone at the helm who understands the importance of infrastructure, and who is interested in doing what needs to be done for the country and its people (the real stakeholders of the country). I seldom mention politics here, but investments in Canadian food systems are big news in my world. My academic research focused on food systems in Canada, the Prime Minister seems right on the money. The challenge will be to make it so.
And oh the garden! This morning it was the usual breakfast with some additions, two fresh strawberries, and two edible pod peas, from the garden. The evening salad is now primarily lettuce from the garden. Rhubarb and fresh herbs continue to be harvested and frozen or dehydrated. It is very dry here, which means hours of watering every day. It is very fortunate that Attila enjoys gardening!
The Garden
Right beside my chair!
Worldly
Weather
29°C
Date: 2:00 PM EDT Friday 12 June 2026
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 100.5 kPa
Tendency: Falling
Temperature: 29.2°C
Feels Like: 37°C
Dew point: 19.6°C
Humidity: 63%
Wind: SW 29 gusts 44 km/h
Quote
“As a scientist, I am not sure anymore that life can be reduced to a class struggle, to dialectical materialism, or any set of formulas. Life is spontaneous and it is unpredictable, it is magical. I think that we have struggled so hard with the tangible that we have forgotten the intangible.”
Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider
Northern Exposure
Zarya, 1994
That was boring. Well, no, it wasn’t. I was hoping to be good and properly bored because I didn’t sleep well last night. Oh Maggie, you’re hopelessly interesting and I think you have to come to terms with that.
LOL, SP I’d hug you right now if you were here, so sending a virtual squeeze. You are one of the most positive caring people I’ve ever met in my life, I truly treasure you!
Maggie, it’s not boring. It’s life as it’s really being lived, not some made-up, hyped-up nonsense intended to impress people who are equally silly.
I’ve been boring my whole life–and have lived well because of it.
“I’ve been boring my whole life–and have lived well because of it.”
Wendy, what you said, that is the heart of the matter, living well.
“not some made-up, hyped-up nonsense intended to impress people who are equally silly.”
Again well said!
You know, the universe has smiled on me with the friends I have here!
I didn’t find this “boring”. Your flowers are beautiful. Julia and I live what others might consider a ‘boring’ life. They always ask “what’s new”. I feel almost embarrassed to say “Julia’s still doing the genealogy, I’m still doing the tapestries.” Maybe someday I’ll travel again. But right now I’m pretty content.
Joan, your life sounds very balanced, very satisfying, very fulfilling. I never tire of hearing the about the ordinary, the real, the peaceful days that are, to me, the peak of human achievement. Sunsets never get old for me, balanced lives never get old for me.
Gorgeous flowers! They used to have contacts where one was for close work e.g. reading and the other contact was for distance vision. He said that the contacts would fool my brain and automatically adjust from reading to distance vision. I didn’t get them but I wonder if that’s what will happen for you? Would wearing an eye covering help, I wonder – like a patch? Yay on the radon!! I hope it stays low to non-existent!
Thanks Sandy!
Hmmm… you have me thinking about sight. Apparently some people will adjust to one eye reading / other eye distance, and some will not adjust. I asked the surgeon about this, and they indicated that unless the differing contacts have been tried it is risky to differ the lenses by much. Since I’ve never worn contacts at all, how my brain would make out with the different distance lenses is unknown.
As for the glasses, I think a patch might work! I thought about trying to remove the glasses lense for the first eye after it is done, but seemed a bit tricky to me, lol.
The radon is a pleasant surprise, and it sure would be nice if no further mitigation were needed, but time will tell and I will be doing a lot of research on a next step, to be ready if we end up needing to lower it further. So far so good though!
I’ve never found life to be boring. There are all kinds of amazing things going on in the world – and in outerspace for that matter.
I hope it’s the paint that has stopped the radon from entering your house.
DH found that after a day or so after surgery the vision from his good eye and his bad eye melded rather seamlessly. His brain learned to compensate.
DH’s eye doctor preferred to schedule the 2nd surgery the week after the first.
I agree Teri, lots of amazing things going on in the world, in the past and in the present!
Thanks re the radon, still low today, fingers crossed!
Thanks for sharing DH’s experience with his eyes after the first surgery, good to know!
I don’t know how long the surgeon waits for the second surgery. I have my suspicions though, that the second surgery has not been booked because the first surgery might be earlier than anticipated due to a cancellation. If they call offering a earlier date, I will take it. Then perhaps the scheduled surgery will be the second eye. Time will tell.
Days filled with doing what we choose to do can never be boring, can they? They beat drama and stress, hands down. -Kate
Kate, I agree, being able to choose, to have agency, provides a person with so many opportunities! Attila, more recently retired than I, frequently comments on this new to him freedom to choose, he loves it! So do I!