Everything is perfect, dear friend.

Jack Kerouac

It’s already March and it seems like not much has happened yet in 2021. Everything is still locked down in Scotland and things have gone from permafosted to permamuddy. With no travel possible yet we look forward to movie nights and plan obsessively over garden projects that we can do and wonder whether we’ll get a builder to call us back for more ambitious tasks.

But even though from certain angles things don’t seem to be changing much it’s obvious that is not the case. The kids continue to grow and surprise the hell out of us every day and my wife and I are still able to surprise each other once-in-awhile.

We actually have so much to do and to try to do, like How to be Perfect (first part is below but read the whole thing):

Get some sleep.

Don’t give advice.

Take care of your teeth and gums.

Don’t be afraid of anything beyond your control. Don’t be afraid, for instance, that the building will collapse as you sleep, or that someone you love will suddenly drop dead.

Eat an orange every morning.

Be friendly. It will help make you happy.

Raise your pulse rate to 120 beats per minute for 20 straight minutes four or five times a week doing anything you enjoy.

Hope for everything. Expect nothing.

Take care of things close to home first. Straighten up your room before you save the world. Then save the world.

Know that the desire to be perfect is probably the veiled expression of another desire—to be loved, perhaps, or not to die.

Make eye contact with a tree.

That is a great list to start with. These pics also popped up today as if to remind me that things change fast.

On this day in 2013:

On this day in 2017:

On this day in 2019:

So while there seems like there isn’t much to do, there is a lot and a lot is happening. Now off to being perfect some more.