The Joy of an Unstructured Day

Yesterday was one of those perfect days that reminded me of the value of having an unstructured day.  I woke up with only one commitment on my schedule:  morning spin class, which was a good class. 

My spouse had gotten up at 5 a.m., which is odd for him, which may explain why he eventually went back to sleep.  But before he did, I checked the weather, and he had decided to make some progress on the privacy fence he's been restoring.  It's a process that requires taking out invasive ficus bushes that were allowed to grow into trees, taking out rotting fence posts and the concrete posts that embed them, and then, the putting in of the new.

I was on hand if he needed help, but for the most part, he made progress without me.  I stayed at the computer and made progress on projects of my own.  I revised an essay for my memoir/essay collection.  I caught up on grading for my online class.  I sent poems to an editor who requested them.  I sent an e-mail with blog post possibilities to my editor at the Living Lutheran site.

I was productive in other ways.  I made another quick trip to the grocery store to pick up some vegetables.  I made a simple tomato sauce for our eventual supper.  We went to Home Depot to get supplies.  I did some laundry.  I sorted through my closet.

At the end of the day, we enjoyed a glass of wine by the pool while we admired the new stretch of fence.  We ate our simple supper and watched reruns of comedies we hadn't seen the first time they aired (Mike and Molly and Big Bang Theory).

I wouldn't want every week-end day to be this way.  I need to have some outings and some fun get-togethers with friends.  But if I'm not careful, those kinds of social encounters can swallow up every scrap of free time that I have.

It's good to have a three day week-end, where I can have a good mix.  It's good to have a day like yesterday.