Labor Day-it’s the red letter day when we recognize workers and all of their contributions. It’s celebrated on the first Monday in September, which is about the same time that my work gets really busy.  However, I found the perfect way to celebrate and it was laborless.

Having a three-day weekend usually means doing five days of job-related labor in the four days that follow the holiday. I’m sure that was not the intent of those who created the holiday, but it is a reality nonetheless.  If someone could remove the actual labor in addition to the day off, it would be the perfect holiday. Until that happens, I try to manage by cramming the holiday Monday’s work into the Friday before so I can have some peace of mind while celebrating and a better 4-day labor week after the celebration ends.

I’m the first to admit that having peace of mind while being laborless requires some planning. I call it planning for peace. For this past Labor Day, I planned meals and drinks that required no labor. I threw a hunk of pork into the Crock-Pot and eight hours later, squirted some BBQ sauce on it, scooped it onto the bun, and called it lunch and supper-for the entire weekend. Yes, it was a big hunk of pork and it went nicely with the store-bought potato salad that only required removing the tab to open and the lemon water left over from last week. Sure, I added a few things to the lemon water to make something similar to ‘The Recipe’ made by The Baldwin Sisters on The Waltons, but in the end, meals and drinks were laborless.

I have to admit that getting my raft and lawn chair from the garage required a little effort, but nothing I considered labor. Once I was settled, my friends began to stop by to visit at various times throughout the day.  You might think that caused me to go into labor, but it didn’t. Interestingly, they didn’t want any food, or fuss about the chair they had to sit in, or make any kind of mess. Instead, they provided the best ambiance since their last visit, which was over the July 4^th weekend.  It was like having an ambiance butler because every time I was ready for another friend to show up and do their thing, all I had to do was ask and there they were. It was laborless.

My first friend to show up was Miranda. She was followed by Tom, Kenny, and Eric. We enjoyed our time together and then later in the day, Thin Lizzy, The Beatles, Nazareth, Kiss, and The Knack-who always brings My Sharona-showed up.  It was awesome! I just called out names to my friend Alexa and she would let them in.  When Alexa got tired, a real DJ took over and we sang and danced the whole way home, with our newfangled boom box-a portable speaker in the beach bag I bought at Hills Department Store so many years ago-in tow.

I have to admit, it wasn’t as good as July 4^th weekend when my best friends were there, but it was pretty good.  And on top of that, it was laborless.