Sunday Afternoon Tea - A Return to Slower Living

I was thinking this week about the possibility of a positive side to this inflation.  While it is causing increasing anguish to our budgets, it may have the side benefit of a return to appreciating the simple pleasures of life... like cinnamon toast with tea or coffee. 

There are so many YouTube videos today being suggested about Slow Living.  I get recommendations since a couple vloggers I watch fall under that category. Could it be that many people are longing for simplicity and slower days than is offered by the world today?

I set my cell phone alarm quite early so I can slowly wake up, put the dishes in the drainer away, make a mug of coffee in the Keurig, and catch the local news and weather before the Bible Study show I watch comes on at 7:00.  Kitties get fed after the Bible Study program is over.

On days there are no outside appointments, I can stick to a routine that allows me to do the housework and extra chores slowly all day.  It helps that there are routines I can follow that make up for a lack of energy.  Slow living is necessary but not always possible.  I can feel the lack of peace when in a season of a lot of appointments.

I have been writing on Saturday blog posts about changing the meal plans for hot weather.  In cold weather, I love to make soups, stews, and casseroles to reheat or put in the oven late afternoon when the oven can warm the kitchen and family room.  It is the time for meals that fill the tummy as well as the soul.

But that kind of cooking goes the way of candles and hygge come the long days of June.  It has taken time to make the adjustments but slowly both my meals and the daytime routine are fitting in with the Midwest heat and humidity.  A side benefit is that most are very healthy meals.

I'm thankful for the spell of cooler weather and less humidity recently but that is to change.  While I love to sit on the porch early on a hot day and hear the sounds of the forest, once the heat sets in... I thank God for air conditioning.

Nature seems to love the hot, hazy, and humid weather, though.  The birds all chirp and sing even more in such weather and the sounds of the frogs can keep one up at night in high humidity.  The fireflies appear on hot and humid nights.  I usually stop to listen to nature and especially to stand on my porch and watch the fireflies at dusk... God's magical fairy lights.

I wonder if we lost our natural ability to live slowly about the time of the Industrial Revolution?  So many people have no contact with the land and nature, anymore. There was a natural ebb and flow of the days and the change of seasons.  When the sun went down early in winter, people went to bed early.  Winter was the time of rest.  In the summer when the sun is shining so late, farmers can continue their work as needed.

I do know it is just the opposite for our south of the equator friends!

Speaking of simplicity and slowing down, have you noticed that we are in options overload?  More media is available than we could watch or listen to in a lifetime.  If I listened to all the podcasts that sound interesting, I wouldn't get anything else accomplished.  Many Kindle books are now quite inexpensive so my Kindle is full of books waiting to be read.

I have had to carefully choose what media I will continue to watch or to listen to during the day, keeping only those that are truly helpful, inspiring, or keep me updated on world events in a way that I can sleep at night.

I used to be able to read long books with no problem, immersing myself into their story-lines and becoming a part of the story.  Too much time listening to short YouTube videos or scanning through Instagram has certainly changed that.  It is true that if you don't use a skill, you may lose it.

Right now, I am reading a wonderful book on the Kindle called The Last Bookshop in London: A Novel of WWII.  It came highly recommended by my daughter and daughter-in-law and they were right, it has everything I love in a book.  But I have had to make time each day to read it when at one time, I would have devoured it in just a few sittings!

Now, I admit that part of this had to do with my eyesight and I get eye strain much quicker than before.  But part of it is just habit, or rather the lack of keeping a good skill.  It takes a way of thinking to read long books that I never thought I would lose.  But I have!

I have quite a few very long book to listen to on Audible already (all three Lord of the Rings books, Lonesome Dove, John Adams, to name a few).  Perhaps by training myself to listen to them, I will regain my ability to appreciate long books?  Regardless, I am working on regaining that skill.

I am all in for slowing down days and simpler options.  As much as I love to bake, cinnamon toast sounds lovely at the moment.  As does vanilla ice cream with sliced strawberries as the weather heats up.  Grilled cheese on sourdough bread and sliced tomatoes was our "Sunday lunch" today.  Easy.  Simple.

We do have more choices than we think, you know.  So much that is happening in our world is out of our hands, except for the power of prayer.  But I keep telling myself that I can choose to listen to an inspiring podcast instead of watching a television show.  

I can put a favorite CD in the player that I moved to the kitchen and listen to old favorite songs and singers.  The world seems a better place when Dean Martin sings Volare.  I need to dust off my collection of DVDs that make much beloved movies and television series available.

I know there are busy seasons of life and if you are in one of them, try to find a few minutes to do something to relax and slow down, even if it is sipping a glass of iced tea and watching fireflies in the forest.  Even those of us living in a season of slow have to be reminded of these truths and not be swept up by a busy society.

Until next week, if you have breath... God still has you here for a purpose.

Mentioned in this Blog Post

The Last Bookshop in London: A Novel of WWII... here.

Lord of the Rings... here

Lonesome Dove... here.

John Adams... here.

Dean Martin singing Volare... here. 

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Image:  Apple Pie Harvest, Artist:  Janet Kruskamp