I am sitting at my computer listening to the radio, where you'll find me most afternoons. They talked about the traffic building, as people try to escape the cities for Easter. It is particularly busy this year, because Easter is in the middle of the school holidays, and there is also a public holiday (ANZAC Day) next Thursday, which means that people can get ten days holiday but only need to take three days off work. (Easter is Friday-Monday off here, with some companies/institutions taking Tuesday off as well. What is the case in your country?)
Anyway, back to the news report of the crush on the motorways heading to seaside baches*^ or other holiday destinations. A feeling of peace came over me. We don't work in education, and we have no children, so we have never been tied to taking time off during the school holidays or public holidays. It's always given me a sense of freedom. This weekend, as autumn takes a tighter hold, we get to relax, hunker down, drink some good wine at home and eat hot cross buns (though not together - sacre bleu!), binge watch some TV, and start to get organised for our own trip next month. We get to choose the timing of our holidays, and we specifically** avoid crowded times. We get cheaper airfares, or smoother road trips. Destinations are pleasantly calm when we visit them. We take real pleasure in this. I mean, why not enjoy the gifts of infertility? It's not as if we have a choice! So we make the most of it. I hope you can do this too.
* I'm using holidays in the UK/NZ sense of the word, meaning vacations.
*^ A "bach" in New Zealand is a small holiday home.
** Well, except when we spent a month in Rome in July. I wouldn't recommend doing that!
oh yes if you can plan trips outside the school holidays then it makes a big difference!
ReplyDeleteGood Friday is a statutory holiday here, and just about everything will be closed, although I noticed the supermarket where we shop will be open (albeit with reduced hours). Everything will be closed on Easter Sunday as well. Easter Monday is usually a school & government holiday (government offices will be closed, no mail delivery, etc.), but most stores & businesses will be open. I worked for a bank, which (as a federal government-regulated institution) got all the other government holidays off, but for whatever reason, not Easter Monday. I always found it kind of amusing how many of my coworkers were outraged that we had to work. (The parents, of course, had to figure out what to do with their kids, who did have the day off!)
ReplyDeleteAmen on being able to travel & run errands, etc., when everyone else is working & in school. ;) I was back at the optometrist on Tuesday -- they gave me the choice of Tuesday morning or Thursday afternoon. Luckily I remembered that this was the Thursday before the long weekend -- I knew traffic would be nuts! -- especially in the afternoon, heading toward rush hour, with lots of people leaving early, etc. So we went Tuesday instead. Much more sanity-preserving. ;)
This flexibility sounds delightful. Where are you going next month? (Maybe you've said and I forgot).
ReplyDeleteAnd what are some of the shows you're binging on?
We don't get off any time for Easter here. Each school district offers a week of for spring break sometime in March or April, though.
We don't get off at all for Easter. Schools are out on Monday, but that's about it. And they're only off on Monday because it's spring break. Isn't that weird since I think of the US as a more religious country than NZ?
ReplyDeleteYes, that's true. You have separation of church and state, but church plays a bigger role in your politics. Yet here it is institutionalised as a public holiday, and no-one is prepared to change it - Good Friday and Easter Sunday are the only days other than Christmas when most shops are shut. There are always complaints about it too!
DeleteAh, the US doesn't have consistency though, because often we do have good Friday and Easter of as part of Spring Break. This year Easter is the end, and we don't get Easter Monday where I am unless break week is after Easter (it's always the week before or week after, nicer for traveling people when it's after). My best friend is also in NY but 5 hours away, and her breaks are totally different. They almost always get Easter Monday.
ReplyDeleteWorking in education I am bound to the same school holidays, which is stinky because of plane fares, but I do get a lot of time, so I can't complain. We also found places to go that are less family friendly or oriented to go to. When I retire the whole calendar will be open!
Your autumn scene sounds so amazing. Enjoy those hot cross buns and wine, not together!