Not Busy in Nebraska

Friday, August 28, 2009
Fort Robinson State Park
Crawford, NE

We thought we'd take it a little easier today. The past two days have been go-go and I, for one, needed a break. A feature of this lifestyle is that you don't have to be busy all the time... as long as you can get over the guilt that can accompany solitude and being not-busy. I know people who are busy all the time, at least that's my observation. They can't sit still for more than a few minutes without doing something... they join groups, they are active in any number of organizations, they're fixing this, cleaning that, going to the gym, shopping, they're socializing regularly with friends and acquaintances... it's run here, run there, don't stop to catch your breath. I wonder if these people are compensating for something that's lacking in their lives? I don't know, but I do believe that one should live by a rule of moderation in all things and that balance is a key to a happy life.

As an amateur writer and explorer I strive for balance, but it requires constant awareness and effort. My self-inflicted deadlines for updating our website's front page, for writing regular entries to my Journal, and then getting out there to explore and experience this big country so I have something to write about -- it all helps me with the balance thing. It's a cycle of exploring, learning, thinking, writing that keeps the physical and mental at least a little balanced.

But then there's the guilt, that word that set me off on this line of thought. While I don't think I've ever been accused of being the extreme busy one, I do suffer from occasional guilt when I'm not busy. What is this guilt? Although I fight it, I seem to notice it more when around others. Hmmm. If somebody sees me sitting here they might think I have nothing to do... that I'm lazy... and that would be bad.

Well, today, I was NOT busy. We did use our bikes to take a few more photos around the Fort that we missed earlier, and we did ride the White River Trail, a short 3 mile rails-to-trails recreation trail the runs from the Fort to Crawford. There was also a quick run to a grocery store and I found a self-serve car wash to hose off the poor old dusty toad. But besides that, I sat, I read, I thought, and I wrote. And I had a beer. And I'm not feeling guilty.

Oh, and after I wrote yesterday's Journal entry last night, we rode our bikes up to a rodeo demonstration on the other end of the Fort. A bunch of locals, staff, and a group of college kids working toward some national competition put on an hour long show -- not a real rodeo, but more a demonstration of the kind of things they do at rodeos. It certainly wasn't professional (the steers got more points than the cowboys), but it was a peek into a world I've had very little contact with. I've decided on the basis of this one hour that good rodeo people are tough as nails and very athletic. And the horses ain't bad either.

At 6pm tonight, Dar has signed us up for a "Chuck-Wagon Dinner". We meet over at the activities building and they'll take us and 30 or so of our closest new best friends out on the prairie somewhere and cook us an old fashioned, trail-side, off the back end of the chuck wagon, dinner. It was only $9 a head so expectations aren't high. Considering the budget problems most State Governments are having these days there probably won't be much of a contribution from Nebraska either. I'm having trouble shaking my memory of the campfire scene from "Blazing Saddles". With some luck, it'll be more than just beans. Since I'm writing this and publishing it before we leave, I'll have to report on it tomorrow.

Not busy in Nebraska...

T