MonuMental

Today was spent walking around work everyone else who was just unexplainably worn out from the 4th of July weekend, whether we stayed in and rested or went out and partied hard. It was so good to get home and have the day be over. I like my job fine but it’s always good to come back home and be on my own time. The day wasn’t very demanding physically nor mentally, and getting off work to come home and write and draw doesn’t take any more energy than it did to get through the day but being able to take your time and do what you feel is always such a great reward for getting up on time and giving it your all during the workday.

This 4th of July was in many ways as good a holiday as I’ve ever had. I’ve always liked the Fourth because it’s never been a day you had to prepare for or commit yourself to any demanding plans. The most I’ve ever had to do typically is buy enough burgers and buns for the people I may be having over for a cookout. Other years it’s just been me and one friend hanging out deciding if we want to dig up something to do or just go and watch a movie where the theatre is dark and cool. This year my girlfriend and I met up in the morning with a couple of our friends at Robious Landing which is a park near the James River with access to the water where people can boat, or jet ski, or swim, tube, whatever. Stand-up paddle boarding was the event of this year. My friends became highly interested in this somewhat new water activity that’s really gaining momentum in nowhere places like Richmond and is coming into its own in a lot of ways. Their regular trips to Hawaii introduced them to the placid, peaceful sport and over a short amount of time they’ve become involved in a more competitive version of it where they may race other paddlers as far as 10 miles up the river. Thankfully for us we can benefit not only from them sharing their boards with us but also taking a few minutes each time to give us some pointers and show us how it’s done so we can quickly get comfortable on the big boards and start having fun with them on the river. I think it’s the enjoyment we get out of spending time with these two particular people that really brings it home, but none-the-less the paddling around itself is a pretty neat thing to be doing on any given day or weekend. After a number of hours on the James we hit up one of my favorite places to have lunch from back when I worked in BonAir. Chicken Fiesta is the name of this little dive that I miss just a little each month being out of proximity to its charcoal rotisserie TexMex style cuisine. It wasn’t the best example of their food that I’ve ever had but I think everyone liked it alright.

We came home for a little repose and she ended up falling deep asleep on the couch. I nearly did myself but had just enough mental energy not to give in to the endorphins spilling over my brain and later on went over to another buddy’s for a little cookout and get-together while I left her uninhibited in her rest. I came back to a person ready to knock out some of the things on her “to do” list that had been weighing on her brain while we were spending the actual weekend part of the holiday resting up and taking turns sleeping on the couch. All in all it was a nice weekend and I wouldn’t trade any minute of it for that which anyone else was doing. Spending time with friends and living with a person like her continuously keeps my bar well-elevated and often reminds me of how lucky I am.