Non-black Friday

After the annual smoking of the turkey, mashing of the potatoes, and baking of the pies; after the raucous conversation around the tables and the long walk in the woods to work off that second slice of pumpkin cheesecake; and after all the giggles with the girlie who loves to play with tractors and who can charm a crowd simply by asking for more vegetables ("Grampa, may you pass me some brussels sprouts, please?"), it's time for Blah Friday.

I'm aware that others celebrate the day after Thanksgiving by fighting the ravening hordes at the nearest Wal-Mart or outlet mall, but for me, a noisy crowd is the opposite of what I need right now. After all the Thanksgiving guests have left, I sit in our quiet house and sink lazily into the silence as if it were a cushy chair, and I loaf. I may have a book or a pile of grading in front of my face, but mostly I'm resting both body and mind, content as a cat curled up in a shaft of sunlight. 

Boring? Maybe, but I rather enjoy a little boredom after all the potato-peeling and dishwashing I've been doing. I'm resting my back, so call it Back Friday; the dishes are done, so it's No More Stack Friday; there's leftover dessert in the kitchen, so it's Black(berry) Pie Day. 

One of these people is only pretending to sleep.

And Thanksgiving reminds me that there's nothing I lack--nothing really important in the long term, and those unimportant needs that press on me the rest of the year can't possibly satisfy anyway. So today in my house it's No-Lack Friday--and if there's nothing I lack, why go shopping?