Nothing can feel so freeing to so many than to realize
Saturday is coming especially after a long work week. For most of us, Saturday
is a day when we can let go of the day-to-day pressures of work and focus on
things we want to do, at least for a short time. I pondered this recently,
ironically on a Saturday morning, when I found Hannah and me watching a TV show
called Gravity Falls. On the show
Uncle Stan, watching his nephew, Dipper, and his niece, Mabel, shoot off fireworks and toss water balloons,
said, “This is what Saturdays are
for-doing dumb things forever.” I chuckled at that comment before I started thinking
how I have spent Saturdays during my lifetime and then I began comparing them
with how I spend them now. Here are my unscientific findings:
Saturday, then: Sleep late. I mean, really late.
Saturday, now: Wake up early due to either:
a) a
three-year-old who needs to potty
b) my own weak bladder
c) the neighborhood
dog which barks all the time
d) my own forgetfulness as I accidentally set my
alarm to go off at the regular time
e) all of the aforementioned or some combination
thereof.
Saturday, then: Wake up in time to order take-out from either
my favorite barbecue or Chinese restaurant.
Saturday, now: Wake up in time to beat the traffic into town
to get a haircut then go to the bank to transfer funds from one account to another
then go to the post office to mail a package, all the while passing the barbecue
restaurant twice and the Chinese restaurant four times in the process and never
stopping once at either one of them.
Saturday, then: Watch Bugs
Bunny and Scooby-Doo by myself,
quoting dialogue I have heard a million times out loud.
Saturday now: Watch Peppa
Pig and Jake and the Neverland
Pirates with Hannah, quoting dialogue I have heard a million times in my
head.
Saturday, then: Accidentally pull off a drawer handle, when
duct tape won’t fix the handle, move everything out of the drawer into another
drawer and determine not to use the handle-less drawer ever again.
Saturday, now: Visit the local hardware store to locate a
thing-a-ma-jig that fits into the whats-it-called on the guess-which-appliance-may-be-going-on-the-fritz
next.
Saturday, then: Get annoyed at all the noise the
neighborhood lawnmowers and weed-eaters running outside make.
Saturday, now: Get gas and oil for the lawnmower and leaf
blower, pick up sticks out of the yard, pull weeds from the flowerbeds, mow the
yard, blow the grass clippings off the porch, walkway and driveway all the
while wondering why the neighbors have yards which look like lush wonderlands
and ours looks like a small desert compared to them.
Saturday, then: Sprawl all over the couch, falling in and
out of sleep all afternoon.
Saturday, now: Yawn and think about when I used to take a nap
on Saturdays.
Saturday, then: Get hungry and dig through the refrigerator
looking for leftovers wondering if I could make a sandwich out of leftover
pizza, grilled chicken, Mexican cheese and ranch dressing.
Saturday, now: Get hungry and dig through the refrigerator
looking for leftovers wondering if I could make a sandwich out of leftover
pizza, grilled chicken, Mexican cheese and ranch dressing. Okay, some things
haven’t changed.
Saturday, then: Reminisce about running and jumping and playing
on swing sets and with rocks, bugs, flowers and trees while blowing bubbles, riding
bikes and playing ball. Saturday, now: Run and jump and play with a three-year-old, rediscovering a world of swing sets, rocks, bugs, flowers, trees, blowing bubbles, riding bikes and playing ball.
Saturday, now: Wonder why we have cable TV when I see all
these things that we are told are entertaining.
Saturday, now: Sit in an easy chair watching and listening
to Jennifer read a book to Hannah just before bedtime wondering how Saturdays
could ever get better than this.
“This is what Saturdays are
for-doing dumb things forever.” Yeah, sometimes. Sometimes, they’re about more than that
though.
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