Hard Labor, Easy Day

The thought of staying in town for Labor Day held not one whit of appeal.

It was perfectly clear nothing was happening here.

Fortunately for me, I was plenty welcome at a holiday celebration outside the city.

It's the first time in memory that I was away for all three summer holidays and while there's a certain charm to being one of the remaining few over a long weekend, I've done that plenty.

It wasn't a big party, but those who did attend were superior conversationalists and I even lucked into a willing companion who accompanied me down gravel roads and on nature trails in a nearby park when I needed my walking fix.

You can take the girl out of the city, but she's going to want to get in her miles no matter where she is.

I was the last to arrive and just in time for the opening of some Graham Beck bubbly, the absolute best way to kick off a holiday.

My affection for South African wine is common knowledge in this group, although I didn't see anyone else turning it down, either.

Once the sparkling had everyone in a thoroughly festive mood, we took a field trip to the local Italian joint for, what else, pizza and Italian hoagies.

The only hiccup there was when the 2007 Bella Sera Pinot Grigio arrived long past its prime, smelling suspect and tasting downright disgusting.

Our server handled it with aplomb, going downstairs and, as she said, "crawling through the bottles" to find a more recent vintage.

The 2011 did far more justice to the onion rings and garnered her a bigger tip for the effort.

I'd like to say we were ambitious enough to play croquet or badminton when we returned, but the super-saturated air did little to encourage movement.

Truth be told, some people even napped.

Once everyone was vertical again, we moved directly to happy hour and the traditional lighting of the grill for the holiday meal.

My skill set wasn't required for cooking lamb but I was consulted about the music mix for the evening.

Between Pandora and me, I think we created several stellar playlists using my chosen starting points: Small Black, The Love Language and Twin Shadow.

The oh-so-'80s synth-pop based first set was (in my humble opinion) as good a holiday night soundtrack as anyone could have hoped for.

Tell the story how you want to
Make up all the details
Tell me what feels good
I don't care
You're no stranger
To me

True, everyone was sitting rather than actually dancing, but I did see some feet doing the horizontal mambo on a chaise lounge.

Okay, they were mine, but the point is, if it hadn't been so humid and if the wine hadn't been so free-flowing, it would have been a Labor Day dance party by the time the evening wound down.

As it was, it ended reluctantly, so we found one last activity before calling it a (labor) day.

Because we were beyond the worst of the city lights, our fine holiday celebration ended with star-gazing and perhaps even a little silent wishing on a star for those who were so inclined.

Don't look at me. I state my wishes outright and out loud.