What to do on a rainy Bank Holiday

Rain pattering on the conservatory roof (my desk and workspace are located in the conservatory) was until a moment or two ago making quite a restful sound.  But now it's beginning to get heavier and more intrusive, and the wind is beginning to rise as well, so that soon the roof of the lean-to greenhouse next door will start to creak and groan in ways that always alarm me.  One thing is sure - my gardening and DIY plans for today are well and truly shelved.  So what else to do?

My newspaper has helpfully supplied a pull-out section of puzzles, clearly anticipating a bank holiday wash-out.  That'll take care of an hour or so, I suppose.  And then I could go out for a walk.  My all-weather walking gear could do with an outing, and so could I, having eaten rather too well over the weekend.  When the rain first started, I was being put to shame a bit by the honey bees which, despite the weather, continued busily to visit the lavatera flowers, which they love, just outside my window. Mind you, they do seem to have given up now.

I have a book I'd like to start reading, but whether Henning Mankell is a good choice as an author for a dark and gloomy day I'm not so sure.  Maybe a chapter or two over coffee, and that will probably be quite enough.

Of course, I could simply do nothing, which, I suppose, is what bank holidays are for.  In my case my options are limited today by an ear infection which is both painful and somewhat destablising (though it is showing signs of getting better), so a trip to visit family and friends will be, sadly, out of the question.  I'm not up to driving that far, and the weather's against me, too - so I am thrust back on my own devices and my own company.

I do find it frustrating when there's nothing much to do.  I suppose for many of us it's hard to escape the whole Protestant work ethic thing - and when I'm idling (itself a loaded word), I feel guilty and it feels wrong.  And yet I know that the rest of my week is going to be a very busy and quite demanding one, so, logically, a day today doing nothing or not very much - especially as I'm still a bit under the weather - would probably be just what I need. If I can do it.

Many of us spend too much time doing, and not enough just being.  Perhaps I should see how much 'just being' I can manage today.  An alternative thought for the week, then: "Don't just do something, sit there"!