Mark’s Remarks | Therapeutic Puttering

I used to watch older guys doing a lot of puttering around when I was a kid. I spent quite a bit of time following my grandpas out to the garden or to feed the animals. I’d watch them sharpen a pencil with a pocket knife, aggravate their wives, and do a lot of going from one thing to the next around the house or farm.

My next door neighbor, Toby, had a fantastic garage, and I spent a lot of time in there, cleaning up woodworking projects with an empty coffee can and paint brush, not telling Fawn, his wife, about the stash of beer he had hidden in his workbench, and wiping off his little Maverick with a chamois.

Once in awhile, my brother and I would travel up to the coffee shop with him where we’d have ice cream sundaes and he’d have buttered toast with jelly and a cup of coffee. He’d always spoon a cube from our ice water and put it in his coffee to cool it off. To me, they all seemed very happy with these normal day-to-day tasks; they didn’t seem to be in a particular hurry or anything.

This summer, I decided to lay low and not take on much of anything extra. Usually, our summer schedule is almost as busy as it is during the school year. With our oldest in college and with some career changes for my lovely wife, it was a safe bet that we would be sticking close to home. I decided to cut down on my extra-curriculars.

I was ready to be a content hermit.

As my summer began, I tried to make a list of things that needed to be done, but I put special emphasis on NOT putting such tasks on any timeline. I knew what needed to be accomplished first. I knew what needed to get finished before hot weather and I knew what could possibly wait until later too. There was no huge hurry.

So began my summer of puttering around the house, tackling big jobs a little at a time, having an extra cup of coffee, sitting and chatting with my wife and my friends a little more, spending as much time with my kids as they’d allow (at least I have ONE non-teenager left).

The garage got organized. Plants were transplanted, moved, and planted. I did some painting, and tackled a few small projects I’d been putting off for years. My kids jumped in with Michelle and I one day got an enormous amount of outside work completed and I’m STILL talking about the miracle that is teamwork. Little by little and with no stress involved, jobs got accomplished.

I still have the big job of staining our cedar-sided house to do having already done a little bit of it. It’s hard to believe, but I am actually looking forward to doing the rest. My plan is to do a little at a time, possibly not finishing the whole thing before school starts; but that’s OK. I’ll have help from family, too, which is an added bonus.

Even though I’m a few years away from retirement, I putter around the house this summer just like my grandpas, and my neighbor and I understand why they were content. Puttering and accomplishing things is therapeutic and satisfying.

I would highly recommend it!

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Mark Tullis

Mark is a 25-year veteran teacher teaching in Columbia. Originally from Fairfield, Mark is married with four children. He enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with his family, and has been involved in various aspects of professional and community theater for many years and enjoys appearing in local productions. Mark has also written a "slice of life" style column for the Republic-Times since 2007.
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