Posted on Jul 28, 2022 in
On the Porch with Patti
Can’t help it – I’m just easily entertained all by myself.
By Patti Parish-Kaminski, Publisher
I like being alone. Being by myself for brief or extended periods of time has never bothered me. In fact, it’s something I rather enjoy. After all, I have a multitude of thoughts, ideas, revelations and random epiphanies to entertain me. They are just there in my little brain – always have been. And yes, it’s a blessing and a curse.
For the most part I grew up alone – an only child in an adult world. Sure, I attended school where there were other people my age and size, but only because it was the law. It was one of those activities I frankly could have done without, and I shared this sentiment with Mother repeatedly from about the age of six through at least 17. This was before home-schooling was a thing or Mother likely would have completed the necessary paperwork and had me just keep up with her on the daily. To her credit, she did get me moved up a grade in elementary school as I tested out of the basics and was bored. Now I was a quiet child, stealth even, but when bored, I could conjure up a heap of trouble. Best of all, I rarely got caught and was rather skilled at framing other little people for my crimes.
Honestly, I think Mother was trying to help move this school thing along by demanding that I skip a grade. I don’t believe she liked it any more than I did. You know, the getting up at the crack of dawn, trying to stomach food at an ungodly hour, getting dressed appropriately because back in the day school attire wasn’t shorts and sweats, going somewhere where you sit all dang day doing basic, mundane exercises over and over even though you got it the first time the teacher said it. And you had to do it five days a week and not get paid! It just wasn’t our speed – mine or Mother’s. I couldn’t wait for the end of each day when the bell would ring. Mother or some random employee – usually our truck driver – would pick me up, and I would be rid of all of these annoying little people if only for a while.
All I needed was a book or two thousand, access to a library, and I believe I could have taught myself anything I really needed to know as a child. That and the life lessons I learned on the daily from being at my parent’s business, the circle of life on the ranch and spending the summers in the country with my grandparents. Yep, between those experiences and my voracious appetite for reading, I believe those things really could have taught me all I needed to know to survive and succeed without the daily grind of formal school.
Being alone a great deal of my young life made me both pensive and observant. I believe those particular attributes have served me well to this day. My people might argue that point. Mr. Kaminski says I can think things to death. What he really means is that I can argue things to death, also meaning that I typically win because tenacity is yet another one of my amazing attributes. See how I’ve thought that through? Pensive.
Mr. Kaminski is not one to appreciate alone time. Now he’s not big on large groups of folks, but he doesn’t really share my penchant for oneness. It was a thing when we first got married. Now I can at least go to another room – or another state – for extended periods of time without him hitting me in the butt when I stop walking. But he still queries repeatedly, “What are you doing?” And never one to disappoint, my responses are always outlandish – just to keep him on his toes. “Running numbers,” “Channeling Waylon being lonesome, ornery and mean,” and “Studying Pablo Escobar’s business model,” are a few of my favs. Gotta keep the man guessing.
Try some alone time this week. I highly recommend it. Couple it with a glass of wine or two and a really good book, and let me know how it works out. See y’all next week – on the porch!
Patti Parish-Kaminski
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