Vacation Day

March 29, 2007 | Filed Under Main |

I took a vacaton day today. But - like most of America - taking a vacation day doesn’t mean I was vacationing. Since everyone seems to work five days a week (and be sure to add the hours of commuting), it becomes difficult to accomplish all those other needs in our lives during the only two days off a week we have. For instance, I am only able to pick up my drycleaning on Saturdays before 3PM. That is the only time our hours intersect. So vacation days are used for waiting for the plumber, meeting with contractors, going to parent-teacher conferences, renewing a license, getting your car repaired, taking care of a parent or relative, etc, etc, etc. You know - life. During the time I was an elected official, I took days off for meetings with the DOT, local landowners, and other semi-sorta-offical agencies. But now - life. I guess I didn’t have to worry about this so much when my wife was home. However, we now both work full time and commute and have that wee window of time to accomplish all that needs to be done.

Today I took the day off to get my dog groomed. Our dog - Jules - is a 120 pound collie. He is also 13 years old. I have been watching him get older and older over the past year. Lately, I just watch the changes around his eyes. Last June, we couldn’t get him in the house because he couldn’t get up the stairs. He kept falling. Collies get bad hips as they get older. Especially big furry collies. I carry him in the house now and I built a ramp for him. But to get him to the kennel to be groomed requires me to carry him in and out of the car (and they don’t do grooming on weekends!). He loves the car. Loves. The. Car. Do not say the word in his presence because he gets all excited… and then disappointed when he’s not invited. But as much as he loves it, only his front end makes it in. It scared me to death the first time I watched him try to jump into the car - as he always did before June - only to have him fall out of it.

Jules is a microcosm of the rest of us. The body betrays you first. God knows he wants to play. He meets me at the fence everyday with a frisbee in his mouth. But… he doesn’t really run after it anymore. Still - whatever he needs. And he needs to feel good. So I’ll burn a vacation day for him. Whatever he needs. I’d want someone to do that for me someday when I can’t chase frisbees anymore.

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