Notes from SaturdayVille

Today is Monday in most places but not where I live.

About four days into my recent unemployment something happened. I lost track of what day it was and suddenly my world defaulted to Saturday, our perennial American favorite.

All through my working adult life I have adored Saturdays and felt glum on Sundays. I suppose it’s because I knew Monday was coming and I hadn’t finished my homework and would have to take a bath and go to bed early. That sort of thing stays with you as long as you’re on the rat track. Even when I worked weekends and had, let’s say Wednesday and Thursday off, I would get that special little thrill of anticipation in each Friday and feel a growing, depression on Sundays. It’s a psychological habit, I guess and I may never kick it.

Now I begin each morning before daybreak at my computer with a thermos of coffee and our little dogs snoring happily at my feet. As daylight grows I begin to think of all the ways I can be productive and happy today. I think of the things I no longer have to do.

In SaturdayVille nobody seems to be in a general hurry without good reason. Stress is a word applied to the poor working stiffs. Clocks are mostly meaningless.

I know I’ll go back to work eventually and I’ll be happy about it. For now, though, a long break from the demands and routines of Sunday through Friday is delightful. Carolann and I may take a long trip in our motor home. Maybe I’ll finish my book. Maybe I’ll just take a nap and then watch some TV.

Life in SaturdayVille is idyllic. I think you’d like it.

Rainy days and Mondays...

I didn't go to work today.

It's a dark, unusually cold and rainy morning in Southern California, a Monday. The first day of the work week is usually a bit of a struggle because two days of being out of sync with my workday routines tends to throw me just a bit. It's not that I ever have a case of Monday blahs, it's just a psychological phenomenon I've had to deal with for as long as I can remember. Monday mornings are like turning the clocks ahead to Standard Time every seven days. It's not big deal but merely a nagging one day oddity which I shouldn't have to worry about for awhile.

I lost my job this past Friday.

I have always had the odd (you can say "weird") habit of viewing my emotional reactions to things from a perspective of detachment.

I watch and try to analyze my emotions even as I am experiencing them. Many years ago I started kibbutzing my marriage counselor about how she might help me survive and prosper through my divorce. Now I am trying to understand why I am having to try to shake off my standard workday Monday funk even though I'm not working.

It's cold and rainy. Did I mention I lost my job?

I'm going to study this for a bit because introspection is a tricky business. False conclusions beg for sudden embrace.

I love cold, rainy mornings. Truth be told, I didn't care much for that job. So, why the funk?

Did I mention it's Monday? That's all it is. Just Monday.

You can overthink this crap to death.