Happiness in 3 Minute Increments

Happiness in 3 Minute Increments
... David Pilling stripping cherries from branches of a tree ...

Happiness in 3 Minute Increments
... rain falling on the patio table ...

Happiness in 3 Minute Increments
... standing under a cherry tree ...

Happiness in 3 Minute Increments
... finding stinging nettle before touching it ...

Happiness in 3 Minute Increments
... clouds on Bastion Mountain ...

Rebecca asked me, not what was the best part of your day, but can you describe some happiness today that happened in a three minute increment.

Hers was showing Betty how to put a battery in a CD player and then how to listen to the music, one ear bud in Betty’s ear and one in Rebecca’s.

I can’t remember now what I told her back was mine.

There were surely many surprises for me, the first being that I saw Alice’s Fix-It Tent had blown down the hill in the night and was now in full view out of my bedroom window. 

Happiness? I don’t think so.

 But surprise? A big yes.

A segment of happiness was having Duncan show us how to get the tent back up the hill again.

I called him for help since I saw Michael and Betty trying to move the tent on their own. I knew that would be going down hill without some adult help.

“I think I need a rest first,” said Duncan, since he had just spent an hour playing The Game of Life with Michael, Betty and Alice.

Their hands are busy, always moving a piece that shouldn’t be moved, or taking back one that needs to be placed elsewhere, or over-talking each other, or missing instructions that have been given, or making up new rules for the game.

I told him if that hour of game playing was bad, think about what it is like for Miranda 24 hours a day.

“I could not have been that bad for my parents,”he said with a little bit of wonderment in his voice which really meant, could he have been?

On to the task, once the three of us were stationed at different poles of the tent, Duncan took the fourth pole.

“We will move on the count of three,” he said, and so two of them, having heard the word three began to move right away.

“No, I am still giving instructions. You will hear the word three as I either count up or down, but it is not now.” Their hands quieted but only minimally.

The terrain that we had to move through is just by the fire hose, and it is rocky. “Ouch, that really hurt,” said Michael, falling off of one of the ragged rock outjuts.”

Happiness in 3 Minute Increments
... stairs that lead to the beach ...

“Why didn’t you tell me you were in danger? I will take that side,” said Duncan going to help.

But by then, I was rocking, since even on level ground my stability can sometimes be questioned. And now I was on a 33 degree slow and unstable. Of course, seeing that, Duncan had to rush from his new station to mine since no one wants to see Grandmother going down.

The overhanging limbs of a birch were impeding our progress up the hill. We called Betty to come and hold those 3 branches out of the way.

I thought to myself, “Our team is really fragile when we have to call on a newly-turned four year old for help. And in the second instance to believe that she could hold the branches back without flipping one of us in the face.”

On completion of our task, and the tent in place, Miranda walked out of the house to go get some coffee from the cabin. She promised to come back and put stakes in the tent. When she was finished there were also boulders around the poles. The next time the wind comes, that tent isn’t going anywhere. The force of the wind may tear the canvass in two, but the tent structure will still be in place when we see it next.

Well, that three minutes to move the tent took more than three minutes to type.

Another tent needed some tender loving care. Gavin and Ceilidh put up a tent last night: six feet wide and 8 feet long, and just snugly fitting between the bank and the precipice at the end of the septic field and overlooking the lake with a terrific view. We had raked and moved boulders before setting the tent up last night. I say we with some hesitation. I have never set up a tent in my life.

Happiness in 3 Minute Increments
... setting up the pottery studio for the summer ...

Ceilidh asked 7 year old Michael how to set it up. He said, “Just read the instructions.” She came to me and not knowing the advice that Michael had already given, I had to tell her, “I don’t know. I would start by reading the instructions.” I was out after that since it was all of the advice I knew how to give.  I was wondering if three 18 year olds could really set a tent up, even with instructions. But it happened – even to getting the fly leaf up.

The only change that had to be made was done today by Ceilidh.

"I think I slept on a big boulder all night. I have just taken the tent down and dug that rock out."

I hope she got the rock that was the trouble. Living on a gravel pit, we all know that to move one rock is only to have another pop up in its place.

Well, as Rebecca noted, sometimes happiness comes in three minute segments.  And thanks to Rebecca for asking the question about finding happiness in small increments.  I also credit her with the pictures.