The Downside of Being Mobile

You would think that I would be thrilled to be vehicularized once more [Wheels]. I am. However, it is dawning on me that life is not all beer and skittles.

Errands
Honey, would you get hay tomorrow morning? Oh, wait. That’s right. I can get hay. Any time. And unload it. All by myself. I can’t be an empowered 21st century woman and expect my husband to do all the heavy lifting, can I? No really, I’m asking, can I? I’m madly trying to think of a logic that works here. No such luck.

Exercise
I am back in the pool. After this long, the best I can manage is 10 minutes, maybe 15 with lots of breaks. Locate non-barn, muggle clothes. Dress. Drive. Change. Swim. Reverse process. Seems like an awful lot of work for not much return.

Ennui
For seven months, I’ve had an automatic excuse. I can’t socialize, volunteer, otherwise participate in the outside world because I can’t get there. So I fell into a rut. Now, the excuse is gone. The rut lingers on. It reminds me of the time I broke my ankle. I was delighted to get off the crutches and into a walking cast. No one warned me that being allowed to walk on it was different than wanting to walk on it. Ow. Ow. Ow. So, my isolation crutch is gone. Now I have to start walking again. Metaphorically. Psychological-ow. Psychological-ow. Psychological-ow.

Update
The fourth E would be Exposure [Dunno, scroll to end].

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

4 thoughts on “The Downside of Being Mobile”

Welcome back to the world.

I feel the same way about our foul weather days. Gee, I can’t go out in this. I’ll do indoor things like nap, read, cook, rewrite my to-do list… Then, when the weather is nice, I’m dragging my feet, not wanting to leave my cocoon.

As for sharing the heavy loads, we operate on the premise that whichever way is least work is best. If someone is out anyway, picking up anything, heavy or light, is less incremental work than two people being out and about. The stay-at-home then unloads, puts away or otherwise finishes the job.

As for empowerment, freedom from stereotypes is part of it…including the stereotype of the macho liberated woman who, because she can, feels she must do traditionally male tasks. My rule of thumb would be “does he mind.?” If he says no, then don’t look for agita.

Once a year or so, I ask if my partner feels/thinks that the division of labor is fair. I always get a yes. Any partnership is a work in progress. That’s what makes it so fascinating.