Friday's.

Friday is arguably the most loved day of week for most Americans. Am I right? The symbolic end of the work/school week, beginning of a fun weekend--or at least a weekend of no work. When I was a kid, Friday's were always pretty cool, for sure.
From the time I was about 8 to well into my teen years my dad always had Friday's off. He worked Sunday through Thursday, usually the swing shift- 3-11pm. During the week if I was lucky and the bus dropped me off on time, I'd get home just in time to see my dad off to work for the day. A quick good bye and out the gate he'd go. He'd get home a little after midnight and mom and I would of course already be asleep. Before heading to the bus stop in the morning, I'd wake him up for a quick hug and kiss and then he'd go back to dream land for a while. It certainly wasn't ideal, but we made it work as best as we could.
But Friday's...Friday's were different. Friday's were dad's day off. And Friday afternoon's between about 2 and 6 were mine and his.
Sometimes he'd pick me up from school Friday afternoon. We'd head into town and of course to the video store. We'd go into Act-1 say hi to Sandy and Mike and pick out 3 or 4 movies for the weekend. He always let me pick at least one.
Occasionally on nice spring days, we'd head down to Grizzly Rock on the American River. It was like our own private part of the river. He'd throw a pole or two in the back of the truck and the dog and we'd head down the dirt road to the river. We'd hike around, see what we could find and maybe throw a line in. I don't remember ever catching anything-but I do remember getting a salmon egg in my eye once.
On a real lucky day, we'd head to the garbage dump. I know, doesn't that sound glamorous?? But everyone knows when you go to the dump, you get to stop for ice cream at Jan's Frosty on the way back. Who doesn't like to share ice cream with their dad?
It wasn't always something epic like river hikes and ice cream. Mostly just playing catch and hitting balls in the driveway. Or shooting hoops. Or sitting on the back of the tractor as dad mowed the lawn. Or simply just following him around and he did chores around the property. It really didn't matter what we did. But Friday afternoons were always mine and his. My favorite day of the week.