As Vacation Draws To A Close...Thoughts On The End Of Summer

OS faces a mountain of work at his desk, and musters little willingness to take it on. Vacation, modest and short though it was, has been delightful. A visit from one child at university far away, another visit to TheHighlySuccessfulChild in her new home on the East Coast, with a detour through central Virginia, off the beaten path. Places like Orange, Virginia go on the list of places to which one could happily relocate.

The 'burbs of Washington are not on that list. The bloating of the federal government for the past seventy years has turned a beautiful corner of the planet into one massive urban blight, surrounded by parking lots masquerading as interstate highways.

It is time to cut the gubbmint down to size, ya'll. One day spent attempting to drive around DC from one place to another tells the tale.

There has been time. To read. To write. To exercise, to play a bit of golf and make an acquaintance or two on the course. OS walked the back nine with a Japanese gent yesterday whose command of 'Engrish' was limited, but who played scratch golf walking, and never pulled out anything bigger than a rescue club from his bag. His reasoning was 'Driver not good, end up on beach!'.

There has been time to cook out a bit, or to stop by the local barbecue artist who smokes his ribs in a pull-behind cooker, and sells them from his trailer in the grocery store parking lot. OS wonders out loud, though: If we Southerners are such virulent racists, why is this black businessman selling out every time he shows up at the white-owned grocery store, serving up his wares to a steady stream of GoodOldBoys in their pickup trucks? Why is the local home-cooking restaurant run by the local black family crowded with white patrons and black patrons both, happily slurping down fried chicken and turnip greens?

There has been time to sleep, to pet the dogs, to spend time with the sainted Mrs. OS, to enjoy time with a student about to head to university, and to share the excitement of being the first in the family to reach that goal.

Of course, what makes that time possible is the time spent at work. And much work awaits. It's not even horrible, unpleasant work--no ditches to dig, bedpans to empty, store shelves to stock, unhappy customers to mollify. But, it is work, and it has been good to take a break.

So many voices have been berating Obama for taking a vacation this month. OS is definitely not his fan, but--everyone needs a vacation, even Himself. Leave him alone a few days, and take a few days off yourself.

Back to work...