It’s Saturday, Again, But It’s Changed

Some enjoy Saturday like it’s the day of well-earned rest after a long week of hard work. Well. Okay. Maybe that’s one way to look at it. For those with expensive hobbies, then Saturday meant something different. Tired from work? Play hard on the weekend and get a different kind of tired!

Growing up, Saturday morning was often spent on cartoons, Tarzan, or Roy Rogers, and then by 9 am, we would spend a few hours on house chores and then enjoy the afternoon free from responsibility. We would eat our cereal and watch the TV broadcast pattern awaiting their morning show. Art Grindle selling cars, often jumping on them and discounting their sale price due to the new dents. Dewey Compton giving the farm report and later selling land in the dry part of the state where a branch was tagged to the camera as it panned the desert – the branch traveled with the camera!

Then? Chores. In the house and out in the yard. Beating rugs to get the dust out of them (we lived off of a gravel road). Washing baseboards, screens, and windows. Cleaning the closet, again. I never remember mowing the yard, but since I got paid to mow the yard around the company swimming pool, then I’m sure I must have. We had to rake leaves at the right time of the year, but then we got to burn them and enjoy playing through the smoke! We never liked chores, but I know how to do what it takes to present a clean house!

Saturday Chores, then afternoon fun.

Sunday was always about church and family. If you visited the grandparents, well, you still had church as a major part of the time spent visiting.

Then, Monday showed up. Work and school, unless it was Summer Vacation, then it adults still worked.

4 a.m. Thoughts

Today is Saturday. Again. I woke at 4 a.m. and tried to stay in bed. But then my mind gets going, and my tired body follows my morning routine. Only now, we must be really quiet to not disturb the 9 fur babies asleep in the garage. Lord help us if they wake up and begin clambering for food! Freedom! Yard!

I spend my usual morning doing usual things, which is no different than just about any other day on my calendar. Now, my eyes are getting weary already. Sleep is calling (lights out about 11 pm last night), but I must finish. My laundry list is ready for daylight—segmented times for certain tasks. Summer is winding down. It’s been a parched season. Rain, rain, come today! So, I must get ready for the good weather to show up!

As I spend time burning brain calories, I’m reminded of other early morning times. Vacations were always driving destinations. We would pack the car and sleep in our beds, ready to travel early mornings. Awakened while dark, crawl into the car, nestle back to sleep, we would awake far down the road of our trip. I remember sleeping in our station wagon, and then mom and dad hit the road, and we would never remember the departure.

I’m ready for a road trip!

Long before electronic technology changed our habits, a stack of books and a bag of penny candy! We were traveling in style! Roadside parks for sandwich lunches, potty breaks, and exercise the kinks out of our cramped back seat. Hit the road again! One vacation was driving across Texas to Carlsbad, NM (caverns and caves are still a favorite destination), then White Sands, NM. Along the way, another stop was often to let us climb a mountain (…hill…) – and I never remember being fearful about falling or worried about rattlesnakes. Tent camping was normal, and one particular Spring trip (it was cold) was around Easter, and we camped at Garner State Park. Lo and behold… The bunny knew where we were! The radio? Never used. With 6 voices and a repertoire of country and gospel, we had our own jamboree while headed to who knows where!

Did I say I’m ready for a road trip???!! I must have! Let’s go!

As we grew, the space in the car became tight, and we finally owned a station wagon with the back seat facing the rear window. 1971 Plymouth Satellite. Yellow. In Tennesse, headed home from a family trip to Kentucky, I twisted around to see Lookout Mountain as Dad called it out. Pow! My knee popped out of place, and I had to go through the remainder of the trip with my knee cocked, unable to straighten out. Hence, 55 years later, knee surgery! It was in the same car we drove to Monterey, Mexico. It was tense driving on the road with sharp edges that dropped to the shoulder of the road, and I relinquished my driving duties back to mom and dad. Don’t drive at night, they said! Buy special insurance for another country. We hired a guide in Monterey, and he drove our car on tour through the sights and sounds of our first out-of-country visit.

Yep. Road trip soon!

My bride and I went to England and Scotland for our 40th anniversary. We rented a car in Edinburg, Scotland, and I experienced driving from the wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road, shifting with my left hand, but using all the pedals as if I were on the correct side of the car. At each round-a-bout, we called out, “Go Left!” This was how we remembered how different the experience was. After seven days of driving, I could live where driving between these differences became “ol’ hat.” Success!

Let’s go!

We Are Blessed!

It’s only been the last 100 years or so that these trips became possible. Before, horse and buggy, stagecoach, or train. If you were able to be on a river, then perhaps a steamboat or pole barge.

Get my drift? We are blessed with this time span we are growing through. Road travel is changing so quickly. Route 66 is replaced by high-speed freeways. Old highways are cluttered and slow, and freeways are generally fast when you get out of town.

A few years ago, my bride and I took a weekend off from our normal responsibilities. We drove to Seattle to visit someone in the hospital and then headed south to Portland but intending to never get on the I-5 freeway. It took longer, but it was so enjoyable seeing the countryside from a different perspective. Suddenly, the trip was not about distance but experiences.

I’m itching to make a cross-country trip and stay off the Freeways and enjoy the back road of life. Now, that’s a road trip!