McGee: Doing nothing requires planning

The Lady of the House and I had a difference of opinion as to what one does while on vacation.

We recently took a few days off and visited the Gulf Coast.

I had visions of lying around doing nothing, maybe flipping through the pages of a good book.

The Lady of the House had a list of things she wanted to do and places she wanted to see.

"A vacation is for relaxing, reading a book, doing nothing," I said as my hoped-for-idle days began.

"You can do that at home," she said.

"You CAN'T do that at home because there's always some chore to do at the house: A litter box to be cleaned, weeds to be pulled, stuff like that."

"There's so much new stuff to see and do on vacation," said The Lady of the House.

So off to the beach we went.

The Lady of the House along with son and grandson decided to mosey down the beach and look for neat seashells.

"Well," I said, "This is an excellent time for me to do

nothing." And so I did. I spread out a blanket and lay on the sand. There was a cool breeze blowing off the Gulf. I crossed my arms, pulled the hood of my jacket over my face and basked in the sun like a beached turtle.

The sound of the waves on the shoreline washed over me, clearing my busy mind. Soon I was asleep.

I was awakened by The Lady of the House nudging my ribs with her flip-flop.

"Hey," she said. "Did you remember to put sunscreen on your

legs?"

I sat up, pulled back my hood and looked. My legs were beet red.

"That's gonna hurt in the morning," said The Lady of the House.

It seems even doing nothing on vacation requires a bit of preparation and work.

Grant McGee is a long-time broadcaster and former truck driver who rides bicycles and likes to talk about his many adventures on the road of life.

Contact him at: [email protected].