Every household probably has a catch phrase or two of the sort that Nyel and I always called “words to live by.”  One of our favorites, “Time, Daisy!” was from “L’il Abner” in which I played Mammy Yokum opposite Scott Cowell as Pappy.  It was not long before Nyel and I married and, as I prepared for my role, he often ran lines with me.  “Time, Daisy!” — a line delivered by Abner — was a cue for Mammy and Pappy to do something or other (which I’ve long ago forgotten) and became the words that Nyel and I forever used instead of “Hurry up!” or “We’re gonna be late!”

Those thoughts from the early 1980s came wafting back to me when I read today’s New York Times “Morning” email — an article by Melissa Kirsch titled “Going Downhill.”  In it she explores returning to the once-rewarding, now-abandoned, activity of skiing and in her ‘evaluation’ speaks about the value of “just hanging out” with other skiers — on the slopes, in the lodge, wherever.  She likens that part of the skiing experience as a way to “reclaim time as something other than a raw ingredient to be converted into productivity” — a description of “chilling” used by author Maggie Lange in her own recent NYT article.

Measuring the Minutes

Yes!  Whether or not we are directly taught to not waste time, to spend time wisely or even that time is money, the older we get the more value we seem to place on what “use” we make of our time.  And in our productively-oriented society, “spending” time without an obvious product as an end result is somehow frowned upon.  I believe I have to think about that some more.  A tangible product seems fine when spending money.  I’m not so sure that the “product” needs to be tangible when it comes to “spending” time…

And did I mention that another of our words to live by was, “Let’s think about that tomorrow, Scarlett!”