an apotheosis of loafing

It's been a tiring, sad, funny weekend. A huge, delicious ice cream cone (flavor: "This %^&*'s Gettin' Real"--from here).  Driving around where my grandparents used to live. Visiting a very quaint town of which I've heard a lot but never visited. Nearly a bottle of cream soda, but that just didn't happen. My first taste of Beer-can Chicken. Lots of explosions and laughing; spectacular fireworks almost directly overhead, giggling teen-aged girls narrating. A slow drive home, during which I saw a baby skunk and a very large cat that was too big to be a standard domestic kitty.

The last week was a reminder that I do not live to work. Think what you will about me, I'm simply not an ambitious person, and trying to pretend that I am is enormously exhausting.

This weekend was a reminder that I am happiest and most peaceful when I'm doing what feels good at the time, with someone on an equal level of motivation/inspiration and creativity. It doesn't have to be expensive or complicated (though it certainly can be!), because what matters is the way that it feels.

I need a vacation. I was reading an article from the Weather Channel about 50 Amazing Places to Go in Canada, and was transfixed at the thought of truly relaxing for more than a few hours at a time. What a luxury that would be!

Maybe I just need some sleep.


[the title quotation is by E.F. Benson, from "Expiation" in The Collected Ghost Stories of E.F. Benson, and reads in its entirety below]

...vicinity to the sea is desirable, because it is easier to do nothing by the sea than anywhere else, and because bathing and basking on the shore cannot be considered an employment but only an apotheosis of loafing.