Labor Day 2026 we both had a day off. We did lots of goofing off. Riding bikes on the lafefront. Lazing on the grassy knoll looking over the lake with the Emerald City off in the distance. Eating vegetarian Beyond Meat sausages (no animals were sacrificed for this meal) and sauted potatoes for lunch.
Then we decamped to our secret garden, played CDs (Steely Dan, Mono, Fontaines D.C.) on our amazingly great Sony boombox & left most of the drama & trauma behind. We marveled at the geese honking and flapping overhead. We watched a tiny little spider building a silky web, yes, we were entertained and amazed by that little spider tossing little silky threads. pool-side, from one metal pipe to another. The web was a gorgeous little design. Talk about working for a living, working for the next meal. That spider showed us the value of the doing good work.
We sipped non-alchoholic drinks & sat in silence for long stretches of time. Time seemed to stand still.
We were still talking about & laughing at that middle-aged woman who accosted my partner the day before. It was at the local Trader Joe's. My partner stopped to give some money to a young girl panhandling at the entrance of the store. My partner & I always give money to the panhandlers. It's part of our shopping routine. We are even casual friends with some of the needy folks, chatting, talking about the weather and they ways of the world. The store is a popular location for down on their luck folks asking for money. The woman walking behind my partner shouted: "That's just like you woke people, rewarding bad behaviour." My partner was stunned, and silent. She gave that woman a stern look in return. The woman then marched over to the store manager and complained about the panhandler. The manager replied: "She has a right to be there."
Why were we laughing? We couldn't imagine the thought-train of being against lending a helping hand, reaching in a pocket for some small change, an easy gesture of kindness & care extended to one of our fellow human beings.
WTF?!
You know, we fall back on that idea: "There but for the Grace of God, Go I." And: we are all one catastrophe away from catastrophe. Empathy, compassion are good, necessary drugs. We see ourselves in other people. We aren't really even church-y people. Small acts of kindness, that just seems logical & rational, we imagine a world of kindness, care, & generosity, I mean that is the world in which we want to live.
Anyway, yes, it's good know, and to live by what you believe, and to know what you don't believe. Embrace Love, Kindness, Genrosity, Compassion, Empathy, reject Hate, Racism, Selfishness, Greed, Cruelty.
It was a very good day. No labor, all casual goofing off. Good for the headspace.
