Unplanned stay-at-home days

I really enjoy taking regular day trips and telling you all about them in these pages, but every now and then I find I also enjoy staying at home, just relaxing and perhaps daydreaming about trips to take in the future.

Today's column is about one of those stay-at-home times, even though I didn't actually plan it that way.

Thanks to the shortened deadline for the paper this week (which I goofed and totally misjudged, thinking I had another week to do something and write about it) and a number of other previous commitments while fighting the cold that is going around – not to mention the challenges of the weather lately – I found myself wishing I could get out for a day to do something fun, but not being able to do so.

So instead, I listened to the rain on my roof while I sat in the house not enjoying the outside activities I had tentatively planned, like the year-round farmer's markets in Lancaster and Bakersfield or the trips to the coast or up the canyon or to Sequoia, which were also postponed because of the weather and the damage it has caused to some of the roads and destinations.

Or the indoor activities, like a couple of new museums plus a couple of art galleries with new displays to revisit sometime soon, that were also a possibility. But as it turned out when I had a free day, they weren't open, and when they were open, I had other appointments and commitments (or was staying home with the sniffles and sneezes).

So it goes sometimes. I'll be back to it soon, however, and I'll have some more great little getaways to tell you about. But for now, I'll just enjoy having some time at home to catch up on reading and relaxing and movie watching and napping and making plans for more day trips.

I hope you enjoy your days off – whether planned or not – as much as I enjoy mine.

© 2023 Mel Makaw. Mel, Tehachapi writer/photographer and avid day tripper – who also welcomes an occasional stay-at-home day – welcomes your questions, comments, and suggestions at [email protected].