This Sunday was super for some rare stillness
It was raining softly on Sunday morning when I woke, and as I lay there, listening to the patter of it, I fell back asleep and didn’t wake again until hours later.
That was my first clue that something was amiss. Usually I can’t sleep much past 7:30 a.m., even on the weekends. I sat up, and my head pounded. I took my temperature. I didn’t have a fever. But my sinuses were clogged. My body was sore, too. (That could be because I tap danced for three hours on Saturday.)
I opened the front door and windows and breathed in the smell of the rain, grassy and clean. There were things I should do. But it was the couch that looked most inviting.
The last week had been busy.
I had hot wings ready to take to my cousin Kasey’s for her Super Bowl gathering. Hot wings for breakfast? It might clear my sinuses.
I texted Kasey to let her know I wouldn’t make it after all.
And then I stretched out on the couch, the dog settling in next to me, and clicked the TV to a “Harry Potter” movie marathon.
I napped on and off as it rained now and then. I could see the sky through the big plate glass window. It was gray and dreary outside, and it suited my mood perfectly.
I’m not usually still. Even when I watch TV, I usually do something else. Write. Fold laundry.
Hours into my repose on the couch, the TV displayed a message: “Continue watching?” “Don’t be so judgy,” I muttered, pressing OK to keep watching.
Maybe this is the kind of thing people mean when they talk about self-care, taking steps to protect our health and well-being with enough exercise, healthy food and rest.
I burrowed back under the throw, the clouds and the rain giving me just the cover I needed.