As units of measurement go, a day is just about as simple as it gets. Once inch—one day—one dollar—it’s really very elementary math.

I started thinking about this as I was stepping out of the shower after a very successful day off from my job. I thought, “Here it is only 4 pm and I have already done almost a weekend’s worth of stuff in the garden, bought bird seed and coffee, picked up some seeds and fertilizer and taken a bike ride: all this before picking up my daughter and her friends from school at 3.”

Since I have worked at my job for almost 11 years, I get several weeks vacation at this point. It’s a “use it or lose it” policy and this year I tend to get most of what they have set aside for me. Now, when you like your job and there is always something to do, it is very hard to take all of the time you have coming to you. Deadlines are always looming and there are always projects that need attention. But time off pays dividends in big ways.

Today, I slept in until almost 8 o’clock. That’s because my wife Sandi took the kids to school. Then I made coffee, read a few pages in the bible (that Jonah was a real character, wasn’t he), played my guitar, cooked some eggs and all this before 9:30. Then I was out in the garden taking care of cleaning up stuff I should have done in the fall. Last night, knowing I would be home today, I burned the old corn stalks, raspberry canes and other trash from the garden I had piled up two weeks ago.

So today the plan was to get some new garden space tilled and clean up some planting beds and then plant some cilantro and spinach since my wife says it is a good planting day.

But back to the unit thing: we think in terms of days. What can I get done today—how was your day—and all the rest of the euphemisms we use to describe this passage of time. Today I took a day off from my job to get caught up on all the little things that seem to pile up…the things we couldn’t get done during one of those many days we have had up til now.

Having a day off is really a sacred thing: ordained by a Father who understands what we need even better than we do. And when you combine a day off with a little reading, a little gardening and a being in nature bike ride…that’s pretty cool to me.

And I still have the rest of the evening left. Enjoy your ride.