More paint in the freezer room.

12/4/19

(Above: A sunny view from the office of Jacobhouse.)

Active Summary: Today’s morning activities consisted of the daily beef-pasture check, about 1.5 hours of painting (time enough to finish the first coat of the freezer room’s ceiling), a little over an hour’s worth of creative writing, and then a quick trip into town with Madre.

The latter included visiting Winn Dixie where I procured a plenitude of dairy products for lasagna and other culinary endeavors, and Sushi Bistro, where we obtained a delicious sushi / noodle lunch for everyone.

(7:33 PM Update:) This afternoon I helped vaccinate a small number of calves, ensured that there were no bovines in need of treatment, performed the evening beef pasture check with Padre, and then returned to the freezer room where disassembled the fluorescent light fixtures and painted them (and around them).

TIL: Today I learned that arugula can be harvested in a multitude of different ways (many websites say that the leaves may be clipped all the way from ‘baby-sized’ to 8″ long). The simplest method I saw, however, was ‘grazing’. To graze, simply pinch off a few of the largest leaves from each plant as soon as those leaves exceed 2″ in size. This benefits the plant almost as much as the human who is picking it, because by frequently taking a small number of leaves, it stimulates the arugula to grow.

Commentary: As always, the sushi lunch earlier this afternoon was tremendous, and as for additional highlights, I would say that even though the Master Blend freezer room has a ‘ways to go’, it is already looking much better with a freshly painted ceiling. Also, I should make note of the question that Padre asked me when I was finishing up at the freezer room for the evening: “Why do you work so much?”

My initial two answers were*: “so I feel more satisfaction when engaging in leisure activities” and “what else would I be doing?“. The first response is accurate, the second is also accurate if not a bit lazy. As I gave the question more thought, however, there emerged a third and fourth response. The third was a simple realization that the word ‘work‘ and the phrase ‘so much‘ are both subjective. My freezer room activities this evening were quiet and enjoyable, but as with many if not all creative activities, it was not what I would call leisure time. In such cases where a pursuit is not considered ‘free time’ nor ‘work’, I suppose it would be classified as a form of meditation.

The fourth answer that came afterward was more surprising and simultaneously unsettling. Fear. Fear of stagnation and fear of lost momentum. I observe (or at least, perceive) people every day who have lost their momentum in life, and have thus become stagnant. Some fight it, and with great effort, are able claw their way out of the wretched pool. Others immerse themselves in that pool, satiating their moral and intellectual appetites with the empty nourishment of distraction. I am not stating that this fourth answer is my sole motivator, but it is, along with the enjoyment of meditation and creation, most certainly present when I engage in non-leisure-time activities. I should probably fix this.

Final Note: Here is a list of the activities that I plan on doing later today / tomorrow / near future:

• Remove/replace the malfunctioning fluorescent light ballast on the room’s south side
• Use a paint brush to take care of any cracks, knotholes, and ceiling edges that were unable to be painted via roller.
• Wipe-off and paint the fluorescent light ballasts that will be remaining. (7:33 PM Update: 2 of 3 ballasts painted.)
•  Remove the rotten center-jamb from and then prime the doors.

*Put much more succinctly than my real-time responses.