My Exciting Weekends

Sometimes when people ask, "What did you do over the weekend?" I'm almost afraid to answer.

Perhaps people think we're out clubbing? Or out racing the Porsche on the track? Perhaps to some exotic high society event?

Erm. No. Mainly spend my weekends doing yardwork. Yup, you heard that right. You see, growing up I never understood why people voluntarily did yardwork, or mowed the lawn. I saw that as something boring, old people did (sorry, dad!)(then again, perhaps this is a sure sign of aging for me). And then, once you own your first home things change. You want things to look presentable, even pretty. You take pride in your property (ie kiasuism).

Weeds don't belong on your yard (and we all know how those damn weeds grow like, well, weeds), and so the weeding seems to be neverending. And, dare I say this?- I find housework pretty relaxing. Your mind is free to roam and wander and you go about in your ahpek singlet and shorts and slippers (something my wife reminds me isn't exactly considered cool here in the US, or probably anywhere else), go on your hands and knees, and just pull out those weeds. Little else can give a man so much power, as to be able to determine the destiny of the common weed. Then again, you rip one out and another zillion takes its place a week later; I imagine the roots contain millions of dormant pupae that are awakened when their host is being exterminated?

One other really fascinating boring thing we've taken into is growing our own garden. Not a lot of produce this year this this was our first attempt, but we have a pretty good crop of cherry tomatoes, sweet basil, thyme and oregano going. It's pretty cool to be able to just walk out to the deck, pluck what we need, and use our own stuff in our cooking; for some reason it tastes sweeter and feels more rewarding. Never mind that these things cost just, what, a dollar, in the stores?

Some weekends we do try to take advantage of the local fares and festivals that are going on. Take the corn festival in a nearby town last weekend, where they basically bring corn by the truckloadfuls, steam them, and you get as many as you want. Complete with fair food, music entertainment and stalls selling trinkets.

So there you have it, an idea of the exciting things Vagus does on his weekends. Perhaps it's a sure sign I'm getting old(er) but sometimes I do enjoy these simpler things in life.

And I'd much prefer this, than next week when I'm oncall.