Musings & Thoughts for Monday, September 4, 2023, or: Labor Day Quandary – To Write or Not to Write….

Late Morning, Monday, September 4, 2023, Lithia, Florida

Hi, everyone. It’s 10:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time here in the Tampa Bay area. Today is Labor Day here in the United States, so even though there are quite a few of my fellow Americans working to keep the lights on and all that, millions of folks “from California to New York Island” are off today and celebrating the “end of summer” on a Federal holiday.

(Depending on how one looks at it, summer either ended on Friday, September 1, the first day of meteorological fall, or it still has 19 days to go before the autumn equinox [the traditional first day of fall], which will occur on September 23 this year.)

Here in my corner of Lithia, it appears that the mercury is beginning to dip a bit as summer shuffles off till next year. As I write this, the temperature is 83°F/28°C under sunny conditions. With humidity at 52% and the wind blowing from the east-northeast at 7 MPH/11 KMH, the “feels like” temperature is 85°F/29°C. Today’s forecast is still significantly summer-like; we can expect mostly sunny skies and a high of 91°F/33°C.

I must admit that I did not go out for a walk after sunset; I started playing a session of Regiments and lost track of time, and by the time I remembered my plan to venture out, it was already time to order dinner from Pizza Hut. Plus, mosquitoes and no-see-ums are out after sunset, and it’s still to warm to go out wearing light jackets or long-sleeved button-downs, so…no walk.

Oh well, maybe I’ll go out later today. We’ll see, though.

Labor Day Quandary…to Write or Not to Write?

As you can see, even though I’m writing this post for my WordPress blog, I am still trying to decide whether to work on the manuscript for Reunion: Coda or stay on weekend mode till tomorrow. Right now, I can go either way since it’s still early in the day and I don’t have to decide till after I eat lunch.

On the one hand, I do need to make up for my lost days of productivity from last week. The double whammy of stressing over Hurricane Idalia’s eventual track before Tuesday, then the relief I felt when it turned out that Tampa Bay was not going to be Ground Zero for a direct strike left me physically and emotionally exhausted. I tried to write on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, but I only managed to write a few paragraphs…not enough to feel like I accomplished anything, but at least enough to not feel like I was goldbricking just for the sake of goldbricking.

On the other hand, I do need to relax and have some fun, even if I have to do so on my own and at home. So…I am trying to decide how to spend Labor Day 2023… ”Laboring”? Or “taking it easy?”

Again, we’ll see. (Although, to be honest, I am open to a compromise between the two choices.)

Anyway, it’s almost time for my normal midday (lunch) break, so I’ll close for now. Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.