How to Lose an Entire Afternoon Without Even Trying

Have you ever noticed that life doesn’t always take the scenic route? Sometimes it takes the squirrel route.

I sat down with one simple goal: read an email from the flooring company, sign the paperwork, and send it back.

That was it.

Easy.

While I was on my phone, it kindly informed me that I should think about renewing my passport.

“Well,” I thought, “that’s a good idea. I’ll just find my old passport, so I know when it expires.”

If you’ve ever uttered the words, “I’ll just…” you already know how this story ends.

Looking for the passport led me to a stack of early saved items.

That stack included papers from Charles, my oldest brother. There, I found family photographs with my aunts, uncles, and their spouses carefully identified. They were in a guestbook he received at his surprise 60th birthday celebration, put on by our Aunt Ella.

I could almost hear Charles say now, “Someday somebody will want to know who these people are.”

Next came recipes from the days when I actually cooked instead of asking myself, “What can I throw in the air fryer tonight?” They were in the same stack as the guest book.

Still hunting for my passport, I went to my jewelry box, where I found a letter my dad had written about one of his trips overseas. Reading that will be its own project.

By this point, I had traveled through several decades of family history.

The flooring paperwork?

Still waiting.

The passport?

Eventually found.

My original plan for the day?

Somewhere back near the beginning of the paper stack.

This isn’t even my only distraction lately.

I’m trying to get the house ready for another visit from the junk removal company. Every box turns into an archaeological dig. Instead of deciding what to throw away, I keep discovering things I forgot I owned—or memories I forgot I had.

Meanwhile, my Chinese persona keeps whispering that there is more research to do.

My junk journal keeps insisting that every interesting scrap of paper deserves a second life.

The house remodel needs decisions.

And ever since Lilies War, I’ve been meaning to write a blog post… which, ironically, I’m only getting around to now.

Even my Bening Family household has been unusually quiet recently. There’s a story behind that, but I’ll save it for another day.

People sometimes ask how I manage to stay busy in retirement.

I don’t.

My distractions manage me.

The funny thing is that I’m not really complaining. Every unexpected discovery is another little piece of family history rescued from being forgotten. I suppose that’s the historian in me. I can set out to accomplish one simple task and somehow end up wandering through the lives of people I love.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really should go searching for that flooring paperwork.

Addendum: The Independence holiday kept Timberland Hardwood Floors from sending that paperwork.