EDLM July 22, 2022
Leisure. I enjoyed the roof top deck by myself this morning in the cool temperatures. I stretched, did some yoga, some pushups, and tried to copy the moves of an Instagram video of a guy who does pushups, planks, and other exercise moves to music. I am not ready to make a video of my efforts, yet, but I am going to keep trying.
I have a long weekend home alone which is luxury leisure time. I have enjoyed an entire day and have not done any housework or yardwork. None.
After some great deck time, I played frisbee with the dogs and walked a bit prior to working. I stretched my legs a few times throughout the day for short work breaks. I picked fresh kale from the garden, and sauteed that in coconut oil, along with some diced sweet potatoes, added an egg and that with an avocado was my lunch.
After work, I walked the few acres with the dogs and posted pictures of my observations to Instagram. I can feel sweat running down my chest as I walk in the house. It’s a very warm day and while I don’t tend to use the pool when no one is home, today I do. I swim some but spend more time stretching and doing water exercises while watching Netflix. Feels safer. I force myself to turn off Netflix after one episode because I am done in the pool and I do not want to spend any extra time watching television.
My husband calls just after I finished dinner and I notice the sun is getting low in the sky signaling cooler temperatures and I go back outside with the dogs to walk and eventually sit on the porch while we talk. My husband is also enjoying the call from the porch. He’s on a trip to finish a project this weekend.
I go back to the deck with my laptop and power cord and spend the evening hours writing. The dogs and cat are sitting right here with me. It’s a beautiful evening with the song of nature playing in the background and eventually dark and clear enough for a view of an incredible star filled sky. I love the midnight sky and have slept under it here for a few hours here and there.
My leisure time will continue tomorrow. I am meeting a friend for tea in the morning. We will sit outside and catch up. We haven’t spent much time together for probably 3 to 4 years. I schedule time just about every weekend to connect or reconnect with friends and family. My book club of friends have local fun, I have a group of friends that hike together and we explore new hikes and cool spots for lunch after, and other friends I meet to talk about life and family. I cherish this time of connection that is intellectual at times, full of support and love, laughter, and even profound on occasion.
I have a few additional leisure activities planned for the weekend. I will go on a bike ride in the morning hours when the sun is rising and the temps are cool. I plan to fly my drone and edit some videos that I have been recording while flying. Flying the drone is more leisurely than editing the videos which is time consuming but I have a couple ideas and want to make them happen. I will also finish a great book. I am reading the “Big Read” this year and every year for years. I pledged to myself that I would slow down enough to read books and not listen to them. I have not been disappointed making this change this year.
My normal work week of leisure includes really embracing our family time. I walk with my husband and grandbaby just about every morning. I will see them a couple times during the day when I am either getting breakfast, or lunch. Or they stop by my home office for a hug or a few minutes of fun. We have dinner with our daughter and son-in-law most of the work week evenings. We share cooking and cleaning duties. I normally take the food out to the composting spot, and rinse and gather the recycle trash. The kids do most of the garden work however I do enjoy eating the fresh veggies and herbs.
We have traveled to see our youngest daughter a couple times this summer and we will again soon as our exchange daughter is coming to visit. This year I shared with her and her friends the joy of creating pots of succulents and propagation to grow and multiply and share with friends. I have been watching a friend do this for years and I see something new at each visit. We also have friends who live near her and spend some time with them. The guys fish and catch enough for us to have a fish dinner. I spend a couple of hours having great conversations with our daughter each week, also. It helps us stay connected given our distance keeps us from seeing her more frequently.
My final leisure love is traveling. I am traveling with my husband to Belize later this year. We will celebrate our anniversary and he will get to show me everything he learned during his spring trip with a friend. The kids have their own travel plans this fall so we will not take a family trip. Our winter ski trips have created great memories over the years.
I have ended my love hate relationship with leisure. HAHA. I’ve reached a level of content with my job and income, and doing has subsided to more relaxed moments to enjoy true leisure. It feels like I’m getting real breaths of life and I love it. The hate of slowing down, being content, being insignificant has been replaced with the acceptance of having enough, doing enough, being enough. Acceptance of such, and love of such, has meandered into my world.
A respite is possible. My conscious thought of what is my role in defending women from liberals who can’t say women or recognize and celebrate our differences from men, and conservatives who want women to choose risk of death of their body and their mind regardless of pregnancy risks, and circumstances of unchecked male violence. But I digress.
This is about leisure and I have more leisure time than I have had in years and I am enjoying leisure time more than I have in years. There is really nothing else to say…however it feels selfish when in excess.