The latest installment in an occasional series: how I unplugged over the weekend.

Last weekend’s unplugging actually started about noon Friday when I realized even if the week wasn’t done, I was.

I quite spontaneously decided what my week needed was a little trip to the spa. So, after running a couple errands, I took my tired self out for a foot soak and arm massage. It was a transformative half hour. Which I followed with happy hour at the local pub and take-out for a quiet, relaxing dinner with my sweetheart. I felt so guiltily indulgent at the outset, but it was exactly what I needed and beautifully set the tone for the entire weekend. Highly recommended (not specifically a spa treatment, happy hour, or take-out – just the doing what you need part).

Really, I would stop this post here – that being the only part with a point to share – except then I would have to leave out my rant on movie theaters, which came at the very end and I really need to get off my chest. So, here’s what happened after that…

Saturday began with the traditional visit to a river beach with my sweetheart and Max the Dog – with my usual latte and my sweetheart’s less-than-usual hamburger for breakfast (in his world breakfast for breakfast is good, but dinner for breakfast is better – usually in the form of fried chicken). It was a gorgeous morning of walking and stick tossing. And, apparently, finding yummy garbage in the bushes – poor Max was later rather sick in the middle of the night. I love this tradition (minus dog vomit, of course) – the weekend isn’t quite right without it.

Then we headed to the farmers market. Beans. Corn. Strawberries. Peaches. Buckwheat crepes with bacon. Spicy sausages. Excellent folk trio. And lots of people celebrating a summer’s day through life’s simple pleasures. The theme for August at the Maintenance Department is “Just BE,” so I’ve been thinking a lot about the difference between being and doing – there was a lot being happening at the market. This, I thought, is what being looks like.

Next thing I remember after returning home is the three of us napping in the cool basement.  Huh. Wonder what we did in the meantime. I guess I really did unplug…

Then I did a little laundry. And had the recollection that it’s tricky to unplug when you don’t give yourself fun stuff to do. So I cleaned out my puttering basket which had gotten to be, well, let’s say less than supportive.

Somehow that led to actual puttering in the form of going through old magazines, tearing out images I could use for collages while listening to Patricia Barber, Ricki Lee Jones, Joni Mitchell and Norah Jones – then tossing the rest into the recycling bin. It was a remarkably satisfying way to spend a quiet afternoon. Ahh.

Suddenly it was time for dinner made from our market goods. And an even more laid back evening of tv I had recorded to watch later. Exactly what shows I don’t recall, which I’m again taking as a sign of unplugging in a good rather than bad way.

Then Sunday. Me: coffee and the newspaper. Him: dog walking and the junkyard. Me: the annual washing of the living room rug (the victim of the dog’s illness) – a big slung-over-the-fence-to-be-hosed-down-with-soap-and-water affair that requires hot weather. Him: replacing his truck bench. Me: weeding and watering a thirsty garden (the tomatoes are coming! and the blackberries!). Him: realizing his new bench won’t fit and putting the old one back (bummer). Both of us: by noon, realizing the dog has it right and we should be resting in the cool indoors.

After a break, it then seemed like a good idea to beat the heat by going to a matinee. Our movie of choice was playing at a downtown theater. We tried to remember the last time we had gone to see a movie in a downtown theater (a diverting novelty!). Well, folks, there was a reason for that…

Nearly a day later, I still can’t stop laughing about the prices. The concession stand alone is hilariously absurd. (This, I thought, is why Americans are broke.) Even the vending machine in the restroom selling tampons, ibuprofen, two flavors of lip gloss and candy cracked me up. Not so much the endless commercials (I’m not talking about movie previews, but the same commercials one sees watching tv). And the people who expect their much-too-small-children to be quiet and content for more than an hour.

Was it a good film? Well, mostly (even if it was a bit out of focus). But it hardly mattered after a certain point. We were so discombobulated by the whole downtown/parking/mall/theater experience that it would have taken some genius storytelling to lift us out of that. And our chosen film was not that brilliant.

[ The best part of our excursion may have been – while killing time waiting for the movie to start – poking around in a store where I used to work more than fifteen years ago. They still sell fabulous stuff, but what surprised me the most was how many artists I recognized – a discovery that means those craftspeople are still making a living doing what they love two decades later. This cheers me no end. You can do this thing without starving. ]

Lastly, when we got back to the car we realized we had lost our parking ticket. Thankfully, they have ways of handling such things that didn’t require payment of our remaining arms and legs. Otherwise it really would have been the proverbial last straw.

Even so, we’re not going back any time soon. Wonderful Neighborhood Theater, we love you and we’re never ever cheating on you ever ever again. And we promise to visit more often.

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How do you set the tone for your weekends?
How would giving yourself what you need change the quality of your unplugging?
What are your traditions that make your weekend, the weekend?
Where do you find opportunities to be rather than do?
What’s in your puttering basket?
Who’s on your weekend playlist?
What adventures have you had lately that taught you what not to do to unplug?

How did you unplug this weekend?

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