This ought to be a hoot, because I’m writing Friday Night Thoughts on a Monday morning.

What is your ideal Friday evening?

I’ve been listening lately to U-Tube videos of ambient music lately; hours of the same kind of background tunes you find in lounges, street cafes, and movies. Many have U-Tube videos/images in the background to match the ambience. They’ve got Victorian Libraries, Jazz Cafes, Lazy Summer Afternoons — even ambience built on Lord of the Rings or Hogwarts. Great for crafting, sitting on the porch, or reading.  

So that makes me have to redirect and rethink my question, turning it into two questions.

What is your ideal Friday evening fantasy?

What is your ideal Friday evening that you can actually carry out?

My dream Friday evening would be sitting at an outdoor café in Paris, eating some decadent French dessert and watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle in the distance. I would hope there would be some hammy accordion music in the distance, but I don’t know if they do that over there.

My ideal Friday evening back here in reality would be sitting around a fire, (indoor or outdoor), sharing conversation and laughs with family and friends, watching the sun set, sipping a pina colada or blueberry vodka and lemonade or even a big glass of chocolate milk.

There is something magical about Friday nights. Maybe it’s because it marks the end of the work week, end of a school week, or that politicians, weekly news reporters, and movie stars have gone home for a quiet weekend and left us alone.

Saturday nights are often date nights, wedding receptions, trips to the city or countryside, get-togethers, and other big deals that can’t be held during the week. There’s always time to enjoy a little bit of jazz, a rock concert, or a symphony  on the first true day of the weekend. It’s a dress up and glitz to the city or drive to the beach kinda day.

Of course, our Friday nights often turn out to be something else entirely. Kids drop by, you drop by the kids house, football games, grocery shopping — the distractions are endless. It’s the first night you can crash and (hopefully) sleep in the next day. Watch a little telly, a movie, catch up on your weekly TV series — the things you can jam into a Friday night are endless too.

But Friday nights are wonderful nights for reflection, too. For creative planning. For savoring the week’s bounty and planning your next step. It’s a time to shut off the past week’s work and domestic activities and plan something for yourself. A bath, a walk, a book. It’s the quiet of sunset, the fireflies of twilight, and the still of a crescent moon.

Take advantage of your Friday nights. They can be the first step on your magical ladder to tomorrow.

How do ~you~ spend your Friday nights?