I remember that “Saturday Morning” feeling, knowing that there was no alarm and two more days before I had to go back to work. Work wasn’t always so bad, but it was just the fact that I had to do it. The weekends were my own schedule, but now every day is just like every other day. Wake. Walk Dog. Puzzle. Run. Write. Repeat. Yes, it gets more complicated after lunch but essentially mornings are always the same. I’ll mix in a little TV while I’m writing, check my finances, and get ready for what’s ahead. 

This afternoon, I’m going to help out in the kitchen, by preparing some wings for tonight’s “Symphony Under the Stars” pitch-in. The weather looks great and it’s about a mile to the event site, so it should be an enjoyable evening with friends. Eat. Drink. Be Merry. Fireworks will follow the concert featuring music from The Beatles, Katie Perry, and Lionel Ritchie. 

Tomorrow, friends arrive for a two-night stay. They will be our second to last house guests until the fall. Like many of our visitors, they are snowbirds with lake homes up north. These transients come down in January to avoid the snow and leave in May. While they are here, the roads, restaurants, and beaches are jammed. After Memorial Day, we reclaim our town, as the population shrinks. We’ll make our trek up north in late August, around my birthday. Right now, we’re considering the long drive, since we’ll need a car to get around Indianapolis. My wife’s niece is getting married, we’re staying with friends who work, and we look forward to reuniting with Hoosier pals. Mobility is the key.

My wife is going back to Indiana in June without me for the bachelorette party. It will be just after our 2nd annual Indy 500 watch party and our final houseguest. She is not a snowbird but rather another former Hoosier, now Florida resident, from the east coast of our state. Once she leaves and my wife gets on her Indy flight, I’ll be more than ready to relax at home with Tally after a month of trapsing through Cairo, Petra, and London. Tally will be equally glad to be back from Schnauzerville, and in her own bed, hopefully for the rest of the year. It will then be time for all of us to make the best of home, sweet, Islandwalk home.