Musings Following a Weekend Alone

One thing I’ve discovered is that even 2 days seems like a vacation when you’re all alone. I drove to the house by myself and listened to music I like. I’ve eaten, slept and gone for a long walk all on my own schedule. I haven’t had to listen to hockey on TV as soon as Shabbos ended. The bathroom is mine alone. I can shower as long as I want, as opposed to the last time we were all here together. I got the last shower and ended up rinsing shampoo out of my hair and finishing up fast as the hot water ran out. I’ve read and daydreamed and planned to my heart’s content today and that’s rare. I do all those things during the week at home but sandwiched in between reading children’s books, arbitrating disputes between preschoolers, changing stinky babies and listening to a chorus of “I’m hungry!”, “I’m thirsty!”, “I’m bored”.

I’ve discovered that the quality of my reading, etc. is different when I have time truly to myself. It’s interesting. Perhaps it’s worth coming here by myself once in a while.

Everything that I’ve come to do has to be done on Sunday before I drive back. The rest of the time has been my own. However the weeds have been doing very well in my absence and are up to mid-calf height in the back yard after just 3 weeks. So, I “pay” for my retreat by mowing the lawn as best as I can and watering the front yard.

My garden is coming along. A couple of things haven’t made it or are iffy. The basil is dead, along with half the oregano. The marjoram is hanging on. The tomato looks like it’s not going to make it, but I won’t give up on it yet. The lilac has a couple of new leaves dying on it and the ground around it is very dry again.

Everything else seems to be growing okay. The mint is already trying to spread and the Munstead lavender is insisting on blossoming. I thought I removed all the budding stems the last time I was here. There are a few strawberries forming too, but they’re totally green still.

I had a lovely weekend, even if I had no way to connect to the Net!