I spent the vast majority of the Saturday over the Memorial holiday weekend folding clothes, but that's not the sad part. The sad part is I actually enjoyed it.

While many folks were out on some lake or sitting on some beach, I was locked in my bedroom with a pile of laundry the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. My wife was doing 15 other things, and my kids were gleefully playing in the house or in the backyard or somewhere else. The point is they were occupied and not asking me for anything.

Normally, I take very little pleasure in folding laundry. It's kind of like making the bed or drinking non- alcoholic beer. I mean, what is the point? No matter how much I fold laundry, the pile just keeps coming back bigger and bigger, day after day. But that particular Saturday was not about folding laundry. It was about solitude.

Solitude is both a blessing and a curse. Anyone who's read the book or seen the movie

The Shining knows solitude can be downright dangerous. That's kind of an extreme example, but prison guards don't use solitary confinement because it's considered a pleasant distraction for inmates. They use it as punishment. Time alone can just be a lonely time, but time alone can also be a glorious time of self- awareness and reawakening. Or, in my case, solitude just translates into a few moments of peace and quiet, which is very hard to come by these days.

The demands of work and family are relentless. Once the workday has finally ended then the real work actually begins. Schedules need to be balanced. This kid has two soccer games. That one has t- ball, and the other one has a birthday party to attend. Meanwhile, the dogs have gotten in the garbage again, the guinea pig's cage stinks, and the lawn needs mowing. The dishes are piling up in the sink, and the checkbook is not balanced. Blah, blah, blah…

My life is a blessed one, but it's also one that can make a grown man enjoy being locked in a room with a gigantic pile of laundry.

Some people find a quiet cabin in the mountains or a secret fishing hole. Others go for a drive in the countryside or a walk in the park. In my house, my wife says, "As long as you're enjoying a little quiet time, you might as well be folding some laundry."

So while my kids were occupied, my wife was busy, and my office was closed, I folded laundry… and watched movies. I watched good movies and some that were not so good. Basically, I watched anything that wasn't a romantic comedy because my wife wasn't folding laundry with me. Given the

choice between Sleepless

in Seattle and Die Hard 2,

Die Hard 2 is going to win every time when the wife is not around. Plus, when you're folding things with pink lace and bows, it's good to have the manliest possible entertainment on the TV.

I'm honestly not sure if it was the solitude or the movies or the discovery of my grandmother's antique bench under all that laundry that gave me such a feeling of satisfaction on that day, but I do know it was a good day. I'm not asking to fold again on the next long weekend, but I will take the solitude anytime it's offered.