PORCH PONDERINGS

A Long Haul

PROMPT May 5th

If your job gave you a surprise seven-day paid break to rest and recuperate, what would you do with those seven days?



What fun would that be! Wait, I don’t have a job. I am on a permanent paid break. It’s called retirement. I can leave anytime. I can go anywhere I like. We don’t have a dog now, so we don’t have to worry about a dog sitter, or taking her with us.

There’s just one catch, money. Oh, that’s right, someone just gave everyone a boatload of money. So I guess I really have no excuses. We have time, we have extra money, we have no children, no pets.

How did I know a few weeks ago that I was living that dream? Hubby and I went on a seven-day plus paid break. We drove to Ohio, he drove to Virginia and back to Ohio, spent a week, then we drove back to Montana. I spent a week with my aged mother. I visited with family, hubby visited with his children and grandchildren. After that week we drove back home.

We found that people across the Mississippi are a bit more scared than those in the west. Life in Montana was missed. We did enjoy the milder weather and the green grass and trees, but it was nice to be back home.

It was said that soldiers that had the R&R during the Viet Nam war (my husband at the time and I did that) were more likely to be killed when they returned to combat. They’d lost their edge. They let down their guard just a little during that week of rest and recuperation. As well-meaning as the military was to give us that week together, it put soldiers at a higher risk when they returned to duty.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%26R_(military)

Why do I mention that? I think when you go on vacation, you relax, you get careless. You eat too much, you stay up later, you sleep in, you take naps. You drink too much, you bend the rules. You let down your guard a little. Then when you go back home, it’s like you have to recover from a hangover. Ugh.

And sure enough, when we got home, we were tired from driving. We got no sleep while visiting. We ate too much. As a result, both of us caught colds. The enemy attacked us. But after a few days of doing nothing, sleeping the normal cycle and eating our normal diet, we’re back to normal.

Our takeway? Paid vacations are fun but I don’t think we’re cut out to be long-haul truckers.















Queen NormaJean II GreenEyes