I don’t know about you, but I find that a Saturday – even after more than a decade of retirement – is still a special day of the week, inspiring a degree of recklessness and abandon, a day for casual clothes and perhaps shopping or some other trifling local amusement.  I suppose I could say that about just any other day of the week – I mean, that each day somehow has its long-lasting customary appeal or regret.  Think of Mondays for example; Monday always remains the start of something new, a signal that sobriety (in every sense of the word) is on the agenda once again, occasion to prepare to address matters of importance and to stiffen one’s bearing  And I hardly need mention Fridays or Sundays, each of them has its own character which, as I say, often continues long after one were trained to endure years of the defined behaviour.  No doubt it contributes to the enduring nature of each day of the week as we knew it that the bulk of the population performs similar daily customs. Even when, many years ago, retail stores began remaining open seven days of the week, my perspective of the days remains even now as it was five decades ago. I still preserve an element of the original “weekend” to Saturday and Sunday (the latter, for example, including CBC early morning classical music – which reached its height surrounding the Christmas holiday season).

Accordingly Saturday is a day which I acquaint with moderate frivolity and forgivable indolence (what historically was frequently liberty for an evening’s unrepentant indulgence at the trough and table). Today has been such a day for me – at least metaphorically (long gone are the shameful youthful ceremonies connected to martinis, Dry Sack sherry, French wine and Porto).

Yesterday (or several days ago) we discussed the value of visiting the venue of the upcoming theatre production “My Own Private Shakespeare” starring Justin Hay in the McDonalds Corners Schoolhouse Community Centre on Sunday October 5th, 2pm. We always prefer to stake out a joint before going there for the first time in order to avoid disappointment or misunderstanding. This arrangement (and the event it circles) is especially vital to me because since childhood I have adored reading Shakespeare; and, equally importantly, having now the opportunity to re-energize those long forgotten symbols in a nearby rural environment is an unqualified win.

‘Written and performed by Justin Hay, known for his performance in the 2017 filmed adaptation “Richard III – Unto the Kingdom of Perpetual Night”, the play draws on some of the greatest and most powerful passages from Shakespeare to ask: Is it possible to find peace with the impossible paradoxes of life?”

We have the inestimable privilege to know both Justin Hay and his mother Bunny Fairweather. I have spoken briefly with Justin about his theatrical career. It is one founded upon the usual traits of determination and dedication; but there is the added buoyancy of serendipity and the romantic calling of self-expression. I long to see the upcoming performance! Perhaps uncritically and shamefully I know already that we shall enjoy it. It already forms the cast of a milestone in my life in the country.

Thus it was that we began our Saturday morning adventure in search of McDonalds Corners (which we recall only fleetingly when formerly frequenting a restaurant in Maberly near Perth with echoes of places like Wheeler’s Pancake House and Playfairville where my exceedingly capable assistant Marina Thompson and her husband Tyler were married – on a gloriously sunny day, maybe it was a Saturday). We did however interrupt our intention sufficiently to put on the nosebag for breakfast at a local beanery. Once that mission was accomplished we directed our entire focus upon McDonalds Corners and all that that entails.

The trip to McDonalds Corners was serendipitously at the commencement of the autumnal season. As we rolled up and down along the winding country roads in Lanark County we passed avenues of burnished copper trees. To my surprise there was not a great deal of traffic on the roadways.  Tomorrow I suspect the city dwellers will choose to venture abroad to scope the extraordinary autumn colours. For the moment I attribute the lack of activity to families having succeeded to settle their children back into school.  A revival of domestic skirmishes shall predictably recur nearing Thanksgiving.

It was probably the sparsity of traffic that encouraged me to extend my afternoon drive. After a quick in and out on Campeau Drive (another Petro-Canada station with a car wash) I headed south from Ottawa to Oxford Mills – with all the windows open. The entire circuit today must be between 300 – 400 Kms. The car (now plugged to recharge) will reportedly not reach 80% until tomorrow morning at 2:15 am. It was down below 29% when I returned home. By contrast my personal enthusiasm has been fully charged. As the sun begins to set along the Mississippi River, we prepare ourselves now for a restorative evening meal. Oh – and I forgot – we had a superb afternoon nap! Nothing quite like a good bit of sleep to reconnect the plugs! Saturday!