A Quick Word: Sunday Fundays are necessary for happy living

A place where a pool, family, and cannabis take away the worries away for a day.

Turning your brain off should come easy by the time you’re 40, but that’s just not true.

If the frenzied alert of adulting does one thing, it puts everything into a vice: what you do for a living, what you want to be doing, family, personal time, etc. All of it seems like a hurried production due to the unknown nature of tomorrow and the constant sounds of sirens and police cars racing around the city.

Have you ever just sat down in a chair and tried to harness or limit what is troubling you? It’s nerve-racking, and the essence of being human allows your guard to be down most of the day so one little thing can throw off the entire operation.

So, one must turn it all off. Find a way. Just do it. Push it all down, away from your brain, and relax. My way of doing this is taking one day a week and getting away from three things: my phone, a computer, and a television. My gigantic pool in the backyard helps with this amazingly.

The brainchild of my tireless wife, the pool/patio takes up half of our sizable backyard. You can’t miss it from the house, walking by, or from a small airplane. A project that took parts of two summers is now in full swing, ready to be the mood-changer it was designed to be.

On a 100 degree day, it should be your only destination. Out of the heat, into the cool water, and possibly enjoying an adult beverage. Also, some medical marijuana helps.

Cannabis experts preach about an entourage effect for a strain: the collective elements-THC content, terpenes, brain chemistry-that elevate bud to a preferred stressless tier. Kimbo Kush was my Lancelot yesterday, slicing through whatever ailed my brain like a swordsman going through a battalion of assholes. One puff brought a teasing allure to unwind. Two puffs had my mind sent to a euphoric state. Three puffs is where two-handed kite territory opens up.

My preferred entourage effect is a trustworthy stain, a Stella Artois, a reliable float big enough for my ass, sunglasses, and a beach hat. On a warmer Sunday afternoon, that’s where I found myself. Floating across the pool ahead of a thunderstorm, carrying less fears in the world than the past week. The brain turned off temporarily, long enough for me to leave my phone inside and the sounds of the Cards game from the radio on the deck.

While I can say it’s gratifying to spend the day with family and have some laughs, it’s really just a day to shut it all down and not think about all the worries and dangers this world is sending our way. It’s a day for me, the same way it is for my wife or one of our friends.

In a pool that I despised from Day One of construction, I find it to be one of the few spots where stress is a little less. You can’t bring a phone into the pool because of how expensive these mini flat screens are. A solid layer of sunscreen and bug spray is required before entering. But once you’re there, everything seems to be in its right place--as Thom Yorke once proclaimed. A place where distraction only comes in seeing my wife’s gorgeous ass or body within reach. Those are the best distractions by the way.

You find peace by acquiring situations that can only enhance it. Like choosing the right friends or the right car, we attract people to our vibe by never being afraid to embrace it, at least once a week.

That’s the pool for me. A Sunday Funday amid the hustle and bustle of life.