Saturdays and I, A Love Story

It’s Saturday! Like many people I’ve always loved Saturdays, though I still consider Friday my favorite day of the week. Saturday is a close second.

Over the years Saturday has meant different things to me at different times. For example as a small child Saturday meant a morning full of my favorite cartoon shows. It was the only time to see most of them. There were no streaming services or DVDs or recording devices so you had to watch shows live. Saturday morning featured a lot of Loony Tunes including my favorite, Bugs Bunny. There was also Tom and Jerry and Barney Bear among others. I would nestle in front of the TV for hours with heaping bowls of sugary cereals and watch to my heart’s content. After cartoons I would go out and play. This could be with a friend, relative (usually a cousin) or by myself if necessary. 

Later cartoons became less important although I’d still snatch an hour of two of watching. I was more interested in activities such as playing baseball with a group of friends and later in Little League. When I became an accomplished soccer player, every Saturday was devoted to a game. This continued through high school.

Of course sometimes we’d go away for the weekend. In the winter on ski trips and in the summer to the lake. In both cases the destination was Lake Tahoe. Those were fun times.

In the fall, Saturdays meant Cal football. They still do today. This might be my favorite Saturday activity, aside from perhaps playing soccer games. I have always loved going to Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium to see the California Golden Bears in action. Albeit there have not been many really good Cal teams but I find the atmosphere intoxicating nonetheless. I love the band, the colors, the setting, the boisterous student section and being with friends and acquaintances.

In later years Saturdays often meant hangovers. In my late teens and twenties I was prone to excessively celebrating Friday nights. This often led to my feeling something less than a hundred per cent on Saturday mornings. Never mind, I’d soldier through and by late afternoon (if not earlier) would have sampled some of the hair of the dog and be ready for more revelry. For Saturdays back then meant either parties, dates, bar hopping or discos. Or a combination thereof. Saturday evenings were thus great fun.

Then I got sober and Saturday mornings were hangover free and Saturday nights were quieter.

Soon thereafter I was a father. Saturday night became movie night with the wife — the VCR arrived just in time to allow in-home viewing once the wee one was put to bed. The day, of course, had been principally occupied by the baby. Later a little sister came along and I had two darlings to spend Saturdays with — excepting, again,Cal football Saturdays when the missus dutifully took charge of the cherubs for the day while I made my pilgrimage.

Of course when I was teaching full time Saturdays were also a break from the grind. I steadfastly refused to do any work on Saturdays. Sundays I would but from the time I got home on Friday through Sunday morning I didn’t give work a thought, graded no papers, planned no lessons. Saturdays were me time and family time and friend time. I even avoided onerous chores on Saturdays, saving as many as possible for Sunday. I was strict about all this.

Since I joined the ranks of the semi-retired, Saturdays became less important for me. The work week is not nearly so trying, especially minus a commute. Of course the pandemic shut the school down so for the last sixteen months I’ve essentially been retired — at least from teaching. Saturday is thus just another day on the calendar. During English football (that’s soccer to you Yanks) season I watch a match or two or three on Saturdays.

I have been writing religiously since semi-retirement and especially during the pandemic. One novel finished and another in progress plus, as I’m doing now, keeping up with this blog. I consider writing my job though I usually am only at it for four to six hours a day, but one of those days is Saturday. I do write less on Saturdays, especially when there’s premier league matches to watch.

So I’ve had a lifelong love of Saturdays. From cartoons, to skiing, to playing soccer, to parties, to me time, to watching soccer. I think one of the reasons I like Fridays more is that I get to spend much of the day in anticipation of my Saturday.