Why should I want that?

What shall I say? An outsider might think that I am (suddenly) a lazy bitch. I don't do the dishes every day any more but that doesn't mean that my house is dirty. Let's just say I've slowed down, I have other priorities and maybe I just don't feel like doing it any more.

It's certainly not the case that I do nothing all day, although I do watch films regularly. I also do the crossword puzzle on a regular basis and I am in the garden every day. I don't always do as much but I have started pulling weeds again. Because it has rained recently, the rain barrel is full and I don't have to water any plants now.

When I had finished all the chores outside (pulling weeds and emptying and re-seeding two planters included) I walked to the grave of my dear Baldr. That is where his remains lie and it feels strange to think that that is where I meet him. Baldr is somewhere else and spent most of his time where I saw him. However, the place of his grave is nicely sheltered and there is enough space for the graves of the other dogs and even us, I said to the youngest.

I tried to dig another grave but it didn't really work out. The ground is bone-dry and rock-hard despite the rain. Tomorrow I will try again.

What else do I do? Apart from helping and motivating someone to tidy up his house and garden, I have started learning languages again. I had planned never to learn anything again because I think I have learned enough in my life. However, I have decided to learn languages that I used to be interested in. I happened to come across Danish. I have nothing to do with that language or country, but I would like to learn more about it. So that became the first language I did via Duolingo. I immediately added two others and now, a week later, I am doing six languages every day. Because two of my children do Japanese (thanks to anime), I said I will do Chinese. Good luck, said the youngest with a chuckle. By the way, the last language I added was not Chinese but Arabic. Of course, the question is whether I will ever be able to speak, understand and write all these languages fluently, but for now, I am motivated enough to spend a few hours on this every day.

Maybe I am even obsessed with the different languages?

What annoys me the most is that the same advertisements keep popping up over and over again. While I can do a lesson within 2 minutes, I spend longer watching advertisements, pushing them away and waiting for Duolingo and my keyboard to start up again.

"Are you busy with those languages all day," the youngest asked. I said that I wasn't and listed the things I had been doing in addition. "Oh, all stupid, boring stuff," was the response.

I was quiet for a moment. Indeed, my life is filled with stupid, boring things.

I don't have to go to concerts, party on weekends and drinking alcohol doesn't make my life any better. For now, learning other languages does. Why would you want to, you might ask, if you aren't travelling abroad or might never be able to speak it fluently or write it well? I think I just want to know how a number of languages are structured (grammatically) and how they are written. In Arabic, for example, I wanted to know that thirty years ago. As far as spelling is concerned, I think it's very similar to shorthand. If I understand these six languages better, I will add a few more. I saw that Duolingo does not have all the languages that I am interested in, but who knows, maybe I will buy the complete package of all (offered) language courses elsewhere when I have saved up enough money.