Shabbat Shalom or, a new appreciation for the 39 malachot

After a week like this, I can imagine how our ancestors came up with the categories of work that are forbidden on Shabbat. The categories, as listed below, seem arcane to most of us on a day to day basis, because they almost all have to do with farming in one way or another. The rabbis of our tradition have extrapolated from this list to discern all the prohibitions we associate with Shabbat. I have to say that, living in the more basic way that I have been, doing (seemingly) simpler tasks, I appreciate the traditional list much more than I usually do.

Here is a list of those categories with an "X" next to the ones I am aware of doing this week, and a "Y" next to ones I do in a typical week in Oakland, NJ:

1. Sowing--X
2. Plowing--X
3. Reaping--X
4. Binding Sheaves--X
5. Threshing--X
6. Winnowing
7. Selecting--X, Y
8. Grinding
9. Sifting--X
10. Kneading--Y
11. Baking--Y
12. Shearing
13. Bleaching
14. Hackling
15. Dyeing
16. Spinning-X
17. Stretching the threads
18. The making of two meshes
19. Weaving two threads
20. Dividing two threads
21. Tying a knot--X, Y
22. Untying a knot--X,Y
23. Sewing two stitches
24. Tearing in order to sew two stitches
25. Capturing (an animal)
26. Slaughtering
27. Flaying
28. Salting
29. Curing hide
30. Scraping
31. Cutting--X, Y
32. Writing two letters--X,Y
33. Erasing in order to write two letters--X, Y
34. Building--X
35. Demolishing--X
36. Extinguishing fire--X, Y
37. Kindling fire--X, Y
38. Striking with a hammer (i.e. giving something its final touch)--X
39. Carrying (in a public domain, or from a private domain to a public domain, and vice versa)--X, Y

I think I've done 19 of these things this week, and I can say with certainty that I am ready to NOT do them again until (at least) sundown tomorrow night-- I'm exhausted. I can only identify 11 that I do in a typical non-sabbatical week. How about you?