Glad you asked! There's a wikipedia answer of course. But I wouldn't be ask.mr.internet if all I did was link to some online dictionary now would I? Sooooo...anyhoo
I was out walking the dogs today and happened to notice a neighbor busy at work CHOPPING WOOD!?! wtf? It's March 28th...certainly one of the prettiest (and warmest) days so far this spring:
OK, that's from last spring, but still....
So he's got this big pile of chopped wood beside him and I'm wondering - what would inspire a guy to spend a beautiful afternoon doing such a hideous thing? It could be he just bought a new axe or awl and couldn't wait to try out his new toy. Or, more likely he was simply working off some frustration. (Perhaps of a sexual nature as I know him to be a local minister. I mean I've got the greatest respect for the ministry, but I've always wondered...) Then again, maybe he's a Memphis Grizzlie fan? Maybe, gOd forbid, he's like an industrious squirrel industriously squirreling away his winter food.
Now if that's the case then that, my friend, is a zero sum game. He's forfeiting a perfectly beautiful spring day for payback on some blustery winter day 6 or 8 months from now.
I wouldn't be presumptuous enough to judge the merits of his efforts. For some - the 'live for today' of us- it's an effort that may not earn equivalent payback. The more pragmatic ones out there look at it money in the bank...albeit with no interest. All I know is that's the BEST he can hope far. I am, by nature, an optimistic fellow. We optimists live in both worlds which can best be described as 'live for today for tomorrow may never come...and if it does, well, turn up the central heat'.
