Whoever invented weekends should get a medal, and a plaque, and a million dollars, tax-free. Without Saturday, all the bad days in the week would run together. How horrible would that be?

Saturday is the only day I feel relaxed about all the obligations in my life. I've already worked five days during the week, and there's nothing more to do that couldn't have been done during regular working hours.

Even more importantly, I have no compelling reason to get up before I'm ready. I can turn the phones off the night before and keep them off until I'm ready to answer their ringing. Out here at the Fortress, I can reasonably expect not to be disturbed.

However I decide to spend my Saturday is okay. If I want to lie around and watch baseball and Olympic soccer, catch up on some reading, do some writing, and surf the Web mindlessly - that's fine. If I decide to do some laundry and water the yard, it won't be because I have to.

Sunday is okay, but it butts up too tightly against Monday morning. Saturday keeps better company, rolling out of Friday night the way it does. On Saturday, you can forget about yesterday and not worry about tomorrow.

I've been at sea since I moved. I haven't had a single day that's seemed anything like routine. I haven't had a moment when I couldn't think of at least three things I felt I should be doing.

Today was different. Part of the reason was that I was determined that it would be different. I knew I'd been pushing and pulling myself in too many different directions, and in doing so I'd wrung myself out. The wear and tear on my mind and body has left me a little limp. I needed to make a conscious decision to amp down the pace for at least a day.

But I wouldn't have been able to do that if time itself hadn't finally become an ally. Time was against me when there was so much to do. But time goes by and things get done. Now time is on my side.

Saturday is a great concept, and it works. It keeps all the days of the week from being the same. Because I live alone and work at home, there is a bland sameness to my life that I have to fight against. Just as I try to break up the day by varying my activities as much as possible within the constraints of my responsibilities, so does Saturday give definition to the week by forcing a change in routine.

What a boon to humanity is Saturday. I hope its inventor has been bestowed with a testimonial commensurate with the contribution to society.