Don't Waste a Day

 A good Saturday should never be wasted. This one is especially nice, the weather is calm and cool for a mid July morning. Outside, you can hear crickets chirping still. Across the road - and in my own little pasture - the prairie dogs are barking out warnings to each other about the two hawks that continually circle. The animals around my house in the country have no concept of the weekend, their days are pretty much the same from one until the next. The only subtle differences come in their innate knowledge that soon the days will turn from summer to fall and then to winter.

It's easy to be reflective on such a morning, but I have more important things to do. Chores. I have garbage I need to take to the dump and the recent rains have encouraged the weeds to grow at an alarming rate, so the weed wacker will be fired up and I will do battle. There are some dishes from breakfast that need to be washed and in a little bit I have to go over to my father's widow's house to look at her water softener and do a few chores there.

This dog is not looking for truffles.

I don't mind the chores although I complain about them all the time. The alternative is to lay around the house all day and get nothing done. That sort of lethargy seeps into my mind and I feel very much like a dull, dull boy.

Later, friends will come over for burgers and drinks and fellowship. During the pandemic, I got used to the solitary life of introspection, and, honestly, I enjoyed the time of self reflection. Now, though, I want to tell everyone about what I've learned and see if it makes any sense at all. I also want to share laughs and stories and talk about mundane things with people who I haven't talked with in a long while.

During the past year and a half we have created bubbles around ourselves that included only our most intimate relationships. Now, coming out of this, I've come to value the most mundane of social interaction. It's nice to see smiles again, although we all sort of learned to smile with our eyes and recognize it in others.

Still, it is Saturday morning and the day is beckoning me to get busy. We'll see you all again tomorrow morning, Sunday, which is the day we should reserve for contemplation.