Snow Day!

Free day!  I was supposed to drive to Montreal to visit Ed who goes to school there, but scheduling and illness dropped from a great height and the cancelled the trip.  So I have - get this - NOTHING required of me today or tomorrow.

Ahhhh.  This is stolen time, time away from the world.  Fire from heaven.

Don't get me wrong -- I miss Ed immensely, would LOVE to see him.  And what with editing two books and writing a third, juggling irate editors like chainsaws, I have TONS of stuff to do.

How odd, then, that my response would not be regret at missing my son or grateful and diligent application to my legitimate tasks. No, I want straight to the kid place:  Snow day!  Woo hoo!

I wonder if this is a human thing or a Scrimger thing?  I remember way way back, slaving away on a project due the day after tomorrow, worrying like hell because I wasn't likely to finish in time, and when the deadline got extended by a week, my first action was to go to a movie.

Do prime ministers respond this way to unexpected gifts of time?  Do tycoons or saints or scientists?  Or is it only us irresponsible artist-kid types?

I'm not entirely stupid -- I know that time is never GIVEN but only loaned at interest.  There'll always be more stuff to do, and even less time to do it.  But I can't help my feeling of relief right now.

I should phone Ed (actually that'll be fun) and get back to my book.  I know I should.  But maybe I'll put on another pot of coffee and savour my freedom for another few minutes.