Anna Hoke | Spiders? Spring? Sunshine? Oh my! It’s that time of year again… Spiders are making an appearance in the house more frequently, and it is a sure sign of spring. They are surprising us in the shower, on the ceiling or even worse… in the bed! The abundance of spiders is a good motivator for some spring-cleaning as we file are taxes away. I am always envious of those people who have their spring cleaning done is March, and their taxes done in January. It’s admirable to be so prepared and punctual. Per usual my husband and I have procrastinated our taxes with the common phrase “we’ll do them next weekend…” and so on until the last minute, though to be fair, we have been “thinking” about doing them since February so we haven’t totally procrastinated, right?
Though we say we will do them early every year, I also have to embrace the idea that we put other things first whether it be for fun or for work or for both. We live very busy lives that we try to balance, though sometimes we eat microwave meals in a dirty kitchen or are crossing our fingers all the way to the gas station because the dial has been on empty for too long. Life is a continual balancing act that will never be perfect, we can only try, and learn to embrace the occasional dirty house, which we trade for good memories or experiences. For me it’s dragging my poor husband outside at 1am for the aurora borealis, or waking whoever wants to go fishing with me. Frequently, I demand that whoever is in the house “come quick” and view the wildlife in the backyard. On the rare sunny day I will drop what I am doing to be outside. For me, these are the types of things that I embrace and often put before whatever else is going on at the moment. Life is for the living, and what is a life without stories to pass down and experiences to remember. So go ahead, embrace the dirty house and go do something you enjoy, while being responsible of course.
Anna Hoke is the graphic designer and owner of Southeast Living Magazine. She can be reached at anna@seakliving.com.