Sleep courts and then spurns me. I teeter on the verge of plunging in and my body becomes instantly restless and aware, snapping me awake. I am hoping a cup of hot milk will help. Until then, perhaps a list of some kind is in order. (I would knit, which is soothing, but when I’m this tired I know I’ll just make mistakes.)
Things which bring pleasure:
- The scent of old houses — that historical, old-wood smell activates my sense memory of my maternal grandfather’s house.
- After roasting pumpkin seeds, they make a crinkling noise as they cool, much like the dying embers of a fire.
- Stella draping her 21 pounds across my torso when I snooze on the couch in the evening.
- Homemade apple pie (including crust), warm from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
- Days which sometimes dawn gray, or include rain – a nice variation from the constant sunshine.
- Talking on the phone with my sister.
- Creating with my hands: cooking, knitting, art.
- Long, warm baths.
- Clean bedding.
- Joking with my husband.
- Catching a good photograph.
- The feel of luxurious yarn.
- Music.
- Dark chocolate.
- A fire on a cold night.
- Internet technology.
This list could go on, but I suddenly feel sleepy, and this time it feels like it will stay.
Yes, Kathryn, the reason you love the smell of your maternal grandfather’s house is because he was a fine woodworker, a furniture-maker, and had a myriad of beautiful seasoned hardwoods in his basement, each of which contributed some sawdust to the composite aroma of the house during it’s sacrifice to become a piece of fine furniture. The one I treasure most is the beautiful cherry coffee table which he made with his own hands and presented to my parents upon the occasion of their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary; I still have this and admire it often. Except for a crack due to our low winter humidity, it is the same as it was in July 1948, when it was finished.
Our black cat, Cinder, is at 20.2 lbs. and still gaining. On my chest she is very affectionate, but finds it hard to avoid rolling off.
Dark chocolate is my daily passion, in the evening, putting my mind at ease…it is, indeed, physiologically addictive…but I have gone for days…even weeks…without it.
The one thing I can bake, successfully, is apple pie, and I love it fresh and warm from the oven with a scoop of vanilla…or even chocolate…ice cream.
I, too, enjoy taking on the phone with my sister, who has recently moved from Las Vegas to Phoenix. A widow, with seven children, twenty-one grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren, she visits them all!
The other things you like, I like, too, but experience them all to infrequently.
Enjoy…..
All the best
Bill
I would add– enjoying the company of my cats.
Reading a good book in bed.
Eating lunch in a special and yet very inexpensive restaurant with that “special person.”
Playing the piano late at night when the house is so quiet. Playing very slowly and reflectively . . .