Ask a kid where’s he’s going and the answer might be a vague “out.”

Ask what he did when it gets back and again the answer might be “nothing much.”

From this perspective, it seems like kids are the only ones who admit to doing nothing.

When we’re older, the last thing we want to admit to is “doing nothing.”

At least that’s the way it is with me. I have to work hard to give myself permission to do nothing.

I think that comes as a holdout from my working years when I had to make every minute count. I wouldn’t even relax and watch TV without doing something like ironing or folding clothes while I did.

Now I’m older and smarter. I don’t iron at all. If something has to be ironed, I shouldn’t own it.

While I did away with that bad habit, I still have a hard time not doing something constructive.

While I talk on the phone, I also dust or clean spots off the woodwork at the same time. Or I pace. Don’t know why. Think it’s my mother’s genes where sitting doesn’t come easily.

One would think that in retirement I would do a lot of sitting around. It just doesn’t seem to work that way.

But sometimes I school myself to do nothing except sit on the lanai and watch the breeze ruffle the grass or watch the birds flit in and out of the feeder.

Now, I admit I spent a lot of time on the lanai reading. But I don’t call that “doing nothing” if my brain is engaged. I guess it’s just a matter of semantics.

But I will tell you this. If I spend an hour on the lanai reading, I feel lazy and tired. If I spend 30 minutes out there doing nothing except tuning in to nature, I walk away feeling refreshed in both mind and spirit. It’s like a mini vacation.

So why don’t I do it more often? I keep asking myself that. Now that I’m retired, shouldn’t I have plenty of time to sit there and observe nature?

Ironically, it was when I was a young, busy mother that I absolutely made time to sit on the porch after dinner. There I was working at the newspaper, taking college classes, chauffeuring kids around and cooking meals. But sitting on the porch with my husband was a priority. It was our most looked forward to time of day.

We always had a big wraparound porch and we took full advantage of it. When we moved into an air-conditioned house without a porch, we swapped our porch sitting for rocking away in the sunroom.

The back of our house faced the woods, so there was always plenty to see. We put in a little waterfall and koi pond to make the view even nicer. It was my favorite room in the house.

Now, my favorite room is actually not a room. It’s a covered lanai. It’s especially fun to sit there all nice and dry while a rainstorm hits us. Throw in some lightning and it’s even better.

There is such peace in just sitting on a porch. It brings much contentment and asks nothing of you in return except perhaps to appreciate life’s simple pleasures.

Oh, there is one other requirement to porch sitting. You have to be able to clear your mind of all the stuff that always seems to be racing through it.

That’s the part I still have trouble with. I’ll be sitting outside soaking up the solace of my little outdoor retreat when my mind will suddenly think of something I need to do. I have to keep reminding myself to think of it later and not let it end my outdoor pleasure.

But sometimes it does. I’ll remember a talk that’s due in another few days and feel compelled to jot some ideas down on paper. There goes my porch time.

Who ever thought porch time would be so tenuous?

One of the things I keep working on is to shove out of my life the things that waste my time. The older we get, the more we realize our time here is all too short. Life is glorious and many of us get to the age when we don’t want to waste any of it.

There are bandits that steal our time and we don’t even know we’re being robbed. I put watching too much television into that category as well as spending too much time on my computer.

I cut back on both activities to make sure I don’t squander any of the precious time I have left. I try to guard against any and all things that waste my time.

But there is no way sitting on the porch is wasting time. Sure, it may seem like we’re “doing nothing,” but tuning into nature and restoring our soul with a brief respite is far from “nothing.”

I do realize that sitting on the porch has lost its glamour for all those who better enjoy their air-conditioned homes. I don’t know why so many homes are built with grand porches, because I seldom see anyone on them.

While air conditioning feels good, especially in Florida’s heat, nothing beats an occasional breeze across my face as I enjoy my porch time.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.