dialing back the speed of life

I've forgotten what it feels like to not have an agenda. Or a schedule. Or a "to do" list. Or a plan. I think I'm a "doer" by nature. I think I enjoy being in constant motion. But I have to say that today, I have enjoyed doing a whole of "nothing". Well, "nothing" by the world's standards. I woke up without an alarm clock to the sun pouring through the screen door of the room I'm sleeping in at my aunt and uncle's house in Calistoga. I rolled back over and tried to sleep a little more, but eventually I rolled out of bed, grabbed my book & my hoodie, and headed out to the porch where I got to sit and read for about an hour before my aunt woke up. One of their barn cats was walking his laps around the porch and stopped to check on me each time. Still reading, buddy, still reading. The sun was beginning to bear down on the fields to the side of the house. And I listened to the birds and the sound of the fountain. I can't remember the last time I had a morning like this. Even if I have a "lazy" morning at home I am always staring at the cobwebs feeling the urge to clean or planning what I have to do next - laundry, dishes, cooking, paying bills, etc...
But here, away from home, with nothing I "need" to do I could just relax. Something I'm afraid I'm not very good at. But this morning I excelled at it!
After some coffee and a simple breakfast complete with fresh watermelon and yummy bread, we walked down to the Farmer's Market, checked out the museum in downtown Calistoga, and turned around to hike back up the hill to my aunt and uncle's house. The good news - I wasn't totally out of breath at the end of it. Although I can't imagine running up it! Might have to do that on Monday as my hill workout for the day before I head home. Or maybe not.
Maybe I'll just have total downtime while I'm here - aside from cheering on my T3 teammates tomorrow at Vineman...which will be a workout of another sort. One that I'm really excited about!
Maybe I'll just focus on being still - which is a different sort of workout for me. To be still enough to listen...to my body, to my heart, to the little chirpings of my mind... When I'm busy, it's easy not to listen because there's always something to be paying attention to. And sometimes it's easier not to listen because listening makes me think and ask myself hard questions - yuck! But a good yuck.
So while this weekend is about speed and racing for some of my friends, it's about slowing down for me. Something I really haven't done for a good long time. I'm a little rusty at it. It's not natural to me. It's pushing me to new places in different ways. But I suppose it's good for me...even if it feels a little uncomfortable trying to live at 15mph instead of 95mph.