Habitually Consistent

What are your daily habits?

Whew, at first I thought they were asking about my bad habits. I can say that I have fewer now than I did in the past, and I don’t think I’m developing any significant new ones.

Daily habits, though. Hmm. What does this mean? Parts of my routine? Things I habitually do throughout the day? I do know that I habitually look at my watch to see how far I am toward my exercise goals, how hot or cold it is, and the date. I no longer track dates well, though as I work more I assume I’ll get better.

I also look at my phone a lot. I’ve cut down on it lately, having found the world is fine without my attention. Still, I get many texts. Some are cute photos of animals or birds, so I don’t mind.

I’m also habitually looking for my bird notebook. In my mind it must always be nearby, in case I see something, like the Cattle Egrets I saw on the way to dinner tonight. I must write these sightings down! That’s my own rule; no one is forcing me.

That, and twirling my hair around my fingers, a childhood habit that comes back whenever I grow my hair long, about sums up my daily habits that occur at any time of day.

As for things that I habitually do every day, I’ve developed quite a routine lately.

• Wake up
• Dress
• Teeth, medication, facial stuff
• Make coffee
• Sit in my birding chair and watch/listen to birds. Write down birds I see and Merlin hears.
• At the same time, do my Finch self care app (my birb is Ada), read Facebook, check personal email.
• Go for a walk to the bridge and back, also listening to birds.
• Feed chickens and Connie Gobbler.
• Go inside and work. Or spontane if not working.
• Check mail after lunch. That’s my break.
• After work, feed horses, groom a horse, or work with Apache.
• Gather eggs.
• Swim in summer. Another walk in other seasons.
• Watch whatever television show we are watching. The Gilded Age right now, since we finished Star Trek: Discovery. Crochet or knit.
• Write blog or Substack if I didn’t earlier.
• Read current book or magazine.
• Sleep, glorious sleep.

Oh my gosh. I just wrote down a day in the tedious life of Suna. I do eat somewhere in there. Apparently that habit isn’t worth noting. Please believe me that interesting things do happen! But I realize that this is the first time in my life I’ve had such a routine that I can stick to or deviate from.

I think the Covid isolation led me to become more set in my ways, as my elders used to call it. Now that I’m borderline elderly, I guess I have a right to do so.

Maybe you’ll start to think about your own habits, productive or otherwise. Do they rival mine in dullness?