Sunday, August 10, 2014

Day 212 ~ No Time to Clean Out Gutters


July 31, 2014

My Instead: I made myself comfortable out on my roof while talking to a friend on the phone.
God knows I’ll never climb onto the roof out my bedroom window to elope, right? Those that know me realize that the reason I’m out on any roof is usually to clean out someone’s gutters. Not quite as romantic. Nonetheless, I planned that one of my “insteads” was to spend an evening on the roof above my all-seasons room, just to sit a spell…no eloping and definitely no gutter cleaning.

The shank of the evening was fading and bedtime was growing closer. Usually, it was time to settle in between the sheets and relax with a book or some Jimmy Fallon. Tonight, however, would be my pseudo campout on the roof…at least for an hour or so.
I got my bed all made up out on the roof outside my window. Another July evening was cooperating with mighty fine weather. Already involved in a phone conversation with my friend Annette, I climbed out the window and settled into my “nest”. We continued our chat with the sound of crickets in the background, talking about the stuff that new friends talk about and much more. We found that this simple change in geography redirected the course of our communication, transforming the subject matter and lifting the mood even more.
It made me wonder how many heated discussions could be tamed by simply stepping outside…how many wavering relationships could begin healing with a simple tweak of habit…how many families could start growing together by just doing something else instead…


 

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