Doug: One of the great boons of teaching is the built-in break every so often. Sure, I often fill those times with work-related activities (lesson planning, summer school, teaching at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, etc.), but certainly not all the time. Today we'd like to hear about your perfect day off -- and the conversation is even better if you add some details concerning the time of year when this fabulous day off might fall.
Doug: For me, there's no better day off than the anticipated-and-now-it's-true snow day! A little unplanned sleeping in, followed by some time on the treadmill and a "no worries" breakfast just spent watching the snow fall. That... is a great start to a day off. Follow it up with a little time spent clearing the driveway and sidewalks and an opportunity to read and it's as if it were heaven sent.
Doug: In the fall or spring, when it can be cold in the morning, I like to follow the same early routine of working out, showering, and then having some coffee while I enjoy the outside scenery. If I'm on top of my game, I've already chosen some comics to read and write about. I really enjoy that 1-2 hours of solitude, just studying the comic art, reflecting on the story, and the nostalgia of it all. I may follow that time with some more reading (books or comics) just for fun. Once afternoon hits and the day has warmed, a brisk walk somewhere outside is great -- either around the neighborhood or at a forest preserve.
Doug: Things are a little different when my wife plans the day off. I, as you might tell, am a homebody; she would prefer to get out and go and do. If she's in charge, we're probably going to make the 50 mile trek to downtown Chicago. Her idea of a great day off is to pack a lunch, take the lawn chairs, and head to the museum campus on the shores of Lake Michigan. We set up shop with our goods and a radio, a couple of books, and sit and enjoy the skyline and the sunny weather. If we are in the Loop, we will just walk around for hours. We did a weekend stay downtown a couple of summers ago and walked almost 20 miles during the 36 hours we were there. Those are great times, too!
Doug: So how about you?
13 comments:
I've been accused of having practically two full-time jobs for the last few decades (off and on..), so I don't get much personal time. Sooo, my perfect day..?
I'd like to believe I still have a keen sense of wanderlust, but a perfect 'day-off' for me would be to get on my bicycle and roam around streets here in Milwaukee I used to bike when I was back in college, when I first had my 'wheels' (not owning a car until a few years after that..) just to see what's changed and what hasn't, perhaps heading to that old LCS which I believe is still open. Having my 10-speed Schwin Varsity somehow meant freedom to me back in the early '80s. Just roaming around at 'my pace'.
Otherwise, I'd relax at home, marvel at some of the comic, movie and action figure stuff I've accumulated over the years (yet still boxed away..), perhaps look at old pictures and memories.
Perhaps I'd even pick up my guitar and start re-remembering certain licks. I learned the entire 'Roll Over Beethoven' (Harrison-style) and a few other nice crowd-pleasers last summer for what was supposed to be a gig out in Seattle, but it didn't materialize.
Again, all my love to long ago.
Nowadays the perfect day off is getting up whenever, brewing up a cup of tea, sitting in our front room with a view of the front yard, and doing some reading (prose books or comics). Then, after a small lunch, taking the dog out for 2, 3 or 4 hour walk, with or without the little lady - who likes mushroom hunting (currently we live really close to a forested hilly area that has lots of hiking trails) and then coming back and depending on the weather and time of year, doing some more reading either sprawled on a lawn chair or sprawled out on the bed.
Alternatively, when we're up to it (i.e., not dead tired) the little lady and I like to take day trips, usually some place where we can take some nice nature walks and have a nice lunch at some family-run restaurant or bar and grill.
Sounds like everyone so far has a fantastic 'personal day' described! David_b: I had a Schwinn Varsity too; wish I still did...
Most of my unscheduled days off mirror Doug's snow days; but as we are looking for an ideal day: It would start much as everyone's; sleep in a bit (if the animals will let me), an unrushed exercise routine, and leisurely breakfast with laptop. Next up would be a nice walk, ideally in a park or woods, but over the Ohio River bridge and back is nice too. After lunch, a couple hours reading (probably some favored comics, or whatever book I'm working through). Then, if it's just me, a couple hours upstairs at the drawing table. If it's with my wife, we wander out and find a flea market or antique mall and go hunting.
Enjoying everyone's ideas. I guess for me it would begin with a round of golf on a nice Spring day like today here in NOLA, sunny, high of 70. Not happening today though because I'm ...uh, working. If not golf, a long walk would be just as good. After golf is nothing more than "a good walk spoiled", someone once said.
Doug, like you, I am more of a homebody than the Mrs. The perfect day would have to involve food and drink. I am more content to cook at home and perhaps have friends and family over for a seafood boil or backyard bbq. She would rather go out to eat. We have done a lot more of that since kids are grown. Our newest thing is to find local eateries that we've heard about but never been to before and there are tons of those on our list. So the local eat out could be on "one" of my perfect days.
Also Doug, if I can harken back to one of your recent posts about hanging around the house, on my perfect "homebody" day, there would be little TV show or movie watching. More likely a sporting event would be on and, unless it involved one of my favorite teams, the sound would be off and I'd be listening to some of my favorite music which would span the 50s-80s.
Throw in some crossword puzzling and comic reading - Voila! Perfect day!
Tom
Redartz.., that Varsity bike was quite popular.. Paid $109 back in 1977 for it, picked it up the afternoon before Elvis died. I remember the next morning reading the headlines on my new bike, delivering the Milwaukee Sentinel on my morning paper route.
I got to meet a local DJ/celebrity here from WKTI and he had the same bike, paid the same price, got it the same year. Too funny.
My 'former' always wanted me to get rid of it.., luckily I refused. Just had new tires put on it too. :)
You boys still riding with the narrow seat and curly handlebars?
Doug
Go out for breakfast with my girlfriend, then go for a walk down by the river. Edmonton's North Saskatchewan River valley is beautiful, and the largest stretch of urban parkland in North America.
Then check out some art galleries together-- the latest is a great show at the Alberta Gallery of Art featuring Norval Morrisseau and other First Nations artists of the 1970s. Morrisseau is known as "Picasso of the North": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norval_Morrisseau
Of course I'll read some comics or other books-- last good one was Randy Bachman's autobiographic account of his adventures in the music business. He was in Bachman-Turner Overdrive (Takin' Care of Business) and the Guess Who (American Woman), and now hosts a popular radio show called Vinyl Tap, where he spins old records and tells stories about them. Here's the book: https://www.amazon.ca/Randy-Bachmans-Vinyl-Tap-Stories/dp/067006579X
I can relate to David wanting to get on the bike. I bought a bike last year and rode one for the first time since I was in my 20s! Fun to cruise around the neighborhood again.
Then writing songs and playing in the band-- we're on Facebook if anyone wants to check us out: https://www.facebook.com/SweetVintageRides/
A fun new song we just learned for St. Patrick's Day is Devils' Dance Floor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPaz0p2dpEk
Doug, I do have to replace the baseball card in the spokes..., gettin' kinda worn out.
(..as David_B does his best PeeWee Herman imitation..)
At this point, the perfect day off is just that: anywhere doing anything except being at work!
Hmmm, funny you should mention "snow day"; it snowed here (Saskatchewan) last night. This winter's been unusually mild, so I think we got more snow last night than we did in the last 5 or 6 months!
As for my perfect day...I don't know; I'd like to think it hasn't happened yet, but is still out there waiting for me to catch up to it in the timestream.
Mike Wilson
David, Redartz – you boys riding your old bikes from 30 years ago around your old neighbourhood streets with a playing card in the spokes……I have just one question for you……by any chance, is there a sinister clown abducting children nearby ?
Perfect day – OK, after 20 years of paying my mortgage off, it’s time for a major renovation. 5 words: gym, cinema, games room, library.
The perfect day will be when I use all four on the same day: have a work out, watch a movie as it should be watched, read in the afternoon and have some friends over for pool and air hockey in the evening. The library, of course, is 50/50 with comics and books, but I have deliberately not read either of the Thor treasuries for many years. I want to curl up on a Chesterfield with a glass of wine and read ‘em both, cover to cover.
Richard
That all sounds so good and relaxing. As a good friend always says, "everyday is excellent, some days are just more excellent than others".
A perfect day would be a quiet day with my wife and boys, playing games, watching movies and going to the park. Maybe barbecuing and sitting by the fire. A nice summer breeze while going to the pool or playing whiffle ball.
I had a Schwinn Varsity too. Red metallic. I think it is still up in my parents' garage rafters. May have to go see.
The unexpected snow day is the perfect day. Sometimes the forecast seems dire and the snow doesn't come leaving some of us unhappy in the short term (though happy later when we don't have a make up day), but once in a while the snow falls unplanned and unannounced and school is called off. It's a time to treasure, and as I near the end of my teaching career, I know I have few of them left to savor.
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