It was 2PM on a Wednesday afternoon. I had a whole hour before it was time to leave for my riding lesson. With the house begging for attention, I decided to tackle some chores.
As usual, the vacuum cleaner was being obstinate. The electrical cord found its way around a wheel, and the canister, after banging against a chair leg, tipped over. I set things right with a little more energy than was warranted. The machine, perhaps sensing my annoyance, announced with a red light that the lint bag was full. Impossible! I had only just replaced it. Rather than give into such an outrageous request, I pulled the plug.
The clothes in the dryer proved even more challenging than the vacuum. No two socks matched. A pair of jeans were still damp. The t-shirts were full of static. I fished out the dryer sheet from the bottom of the basket and gave it a thorough shake.
“Why didn’t you work?” I scolded it.
It was now a quarter to three, time to get ready. In the bathroom, I caught my reflection in the mirror. Forehead creased, nostrils flaring.
Too late, I remembered something that I had read in an Instagram post. It was from Callie King of HorseClass. The post went something like this: “How you do everything is how you ride.”
I thought about my approach to the household chores. Was I taking the same attitude to the barn? Would I become testy if I couldn’t find my riding crop? Would I feel vexed if my newly laundered saddle pad slipped from my arms onto the barn floor? Unfortunately, the answer was probably yes.
Maybe it didn’t make sense to try and juggle chores with only an hour’s window. Instead, I could read a book or do some yoga. Maybe I could do everything differently.
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