The Colors of All the Cattle (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency #19)

by Alexander McCall Smith

THE FOLLOWING DAY Mma Ramotswe made one of her lists. These were sometimes entitled Things to be done today; on other occasions they were headed Things to be done soon, and, rather more rarely, simply Things to be done. The descending order of urgency was matched by a descending rate of fulfilment. Things to be done tended to be merely aspirational—catalogues of things that would be done if conditions were right or if there was nothing else more pressing to be done. Things to be done today were, as Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni once wryly observed, those tasks that should have been done yesterday but which, not having been done, were now weighing heavily on Mma Ramotswe. “Perhaps you might have another list altogether, Mma,” he suggested. “This could be called Things I’ll never do. You would not feel uncomfortable reading that list, as you will have already admitted that these are things you do not want to do—and will not do.” Mma Ramotswe laughed. “It would include many wishes,” she said. “It would have all those things that it would have been nice to do.” Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni warmed to the theme. “And you could have yet another list,” he said. “Things that other people should do, but don’t seem to be doing.” Mma Ramotswe thought for a while. “That could be a very long list,” she said. “There are many people who do not do what they should be doing.” “They probably have no lists,” said Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni. “If they did, then they might do some of the things they should be doing but a...