Weekends

From the way I greet Saturdays you’d think I work a rigorous forty-hour week, but of course I don’t. Retirement means I work at my own pace, with lots of time for reading, napping, cooking, visiting with friends. But Saturdays are always slower paced days. I somehow feel at liberty to sleep later—I let Sophie out briefly at 6:45 and went back to bed until 8:30. Fixed a sausage sandwich for my breakfast and wrote a thousand words. Made a run to curbside pickup at Central Market—and I think the butcher even spatchcocked the chicken for me. Napped in the afternoon to figure out where my mystery goes next—naps are plotting time for me.

Late this afternoon, friend Subie and I went to Warby Parker—I just needed my readers tightened, but she needed new sunglasses and got some with tortoise-shell frames and bright (I mean bright) mirrored lenses. When she said, “I know, you never would have bought those,” I reminded her that I am the one who dyed her hair blue. And Subie, of all my friends, most actively disliked it—when strangers were stopping me in restaurants and other places to say, “I like your hair.” I haven’t ruled out doing it again, though I will go for a less intense blue, which made Subie say, “Thank goodness.”

One of my pleasures in retirement is eating good food, and I seem to do more of that on weekends. I plan my meals.. Sometimes during the week I fix myself whatever’s easy—pasta, a baked potato, some leftovers out of the freezer. But last night Subie and Phil and Christian and I went to Tokyo Café (Jordan was in Oklahoma at WinStar for a Lionel Ritchie concert). I had wonderful sushi, but I was intrigued by the beef in Christian’s bowl—I want that beef but with vegetables, not rice.

For lunch today I made myself avocado toast with some smoked salmon. And this afternoon I had molasses bread that a lunch friend brought me yesterday—so good. Like old-fashioned gingerbread but with more depth, that wonderful molasses flavor. I like it on lots of things, including chicken and salmon, but the bread was a welcome new surprise for me.

Let’s hope the next couple of days are the final gasp of winter and dreary wet chilly days. I am so ready for spring, though I’m a bit worried that the trees have budded and even begun to blossom. Did they not read the weather report? Do they not know that it’s going to be in the low twenties Monday?

Stay warm, dry, and safe, everyone.