Skip to main content

Thoughts on a Nap...

Image
Ah, the nap.  The glorious nap.  Few things in this world are as special as the nap!  Sound a bit overboard, do I, friends and neighbors?  Maybe, yes.  But can anyone actually tell me that they wouldn't love to settle down for a nice nap during their day?  What a luxury to have the time to stop everything and close your eyes and sleep!

I have valued naps more than most things since my high school days.  My boarding school was a tough one.  We were pushed from early morning until 11PM every night.  Sleep was a prized commodity.  So we slept at every chance we could get.  15 minutes?  No problem.  Lunch or nap?  Nap, damn it.  Bet your ass I'm going to grab some shut eye.

Then came college and naps became important for different reasons.  Classes began as close to noon as possible, so getting up at the butt crack wasn't a factor.  Rather, the hang over became the enemy.  And the nap became the cure.  A two hour nap could recharge the batteries for a repeat performance.  And let's not forget about all the pot smoked.  Nap after bong hits was a given.  Duh!

But the working world was next, and the glorious naps became extinct.  No sleeping on the job.  Work, work, work.  Do, do, do.  Blah, blah, blah.  You can bet your ass, though, that a nap would make an appearance during the weekends, though!  That is, unless you work in the restaurant industry.  Lately, I have taken a 2 hour nap every day for the past 5 or 6 months.  I get up, do a few things, eat lunch, and then sleep until its time to get up and shower before work.  And what an amazing thing to wake up refreshed from a nap and then head to work.  Yes, one of the great perks to working in the restaurant biz and doing nothing else is that I can get 10-12 hours of sleep at night AND take a nap during the day.  Now that's what I'm talking about!

There are nap rules.  Not all agree with my nap rules, but they are important to me and must be obeyed.  First and most importantly, you may NOT get under the covers!  That is the ultimate no-no.  Getting under the covers constitutes going to bed.  And a nap is not going to bed.  A nap is a glorious rest.  A reprieve from the day.  You are supposed to get under a blanket or throw, but NOT under the covers.  You can't break the seal.  The only other rule is that PJs really shouldn't be worn.  You should be dressed, for the all the same reasons as why you can't get under the covers.

And I've saved the best naps for last.  The naps that are far and away some of the most magical experiences we can have: naps with a loved one.  With all the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, with all the bullshit and noise and grief, with all of the crap, isn't it a little piece of heaven to be able to curl up with someone you love and hold them tight and smell their hair and close your eyes and fall asleep with them.  Snuggling, spooning, what have you.  The whole point is to stop everything and curl up and sleep.  Now that's special.  That's one of the things I miss most about not having a girlfriend.

Ah, the glorious nap.  I have iTunes playlists for them.  I make time for them.  I cherish them.  It is one of our little miracles that we can just stop everything and close our eyes and dream.  Ah, the glorious nap...........

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

  At some point recently, the kids and I were telling each other stories. I can ’ t remember who went first, but Wyatt and Pepper each told their stories amid interruptions and corrections and suggestions. Let’s say for the sake of argument that Briar wasn’t talking yet, so it became my turn. Rather than the usual stories of kingdoms and unicorns and the garden variety stuff I usually went for, I decided to pull from my memory of past events. The kids listened in amazement, not really understanding  what I was talking about. The story was a hit. And I think I’ll share it with you now. It was the summer of 1993. I had finished my first year of college at The College of Charleston. At the end of summer, I would be transferring to NC State. I enjoyed College of Charleston very much. I loved the 9-to-1 girl-to-guy ratio. It had been a great year. But I had spent most weekends driving up and back from Raleigh to see my girlfriend Marcia. At some point during the year, I had decided...
1 comment
Read more

Thoughts on a Mix Tape

For as long as I can remember, I have loved music. I can remember getting ‘Elton John’s Greatest Hits’ and ‘Neil Diamond’s Greatest Hits’ when I was just a little guy. And I can remember constantly going to the record store to get new music. When I first started, it was all vinyl. Soon after that, there was a big change to cassette tapes. The record store looked a lot different than before. Tapes didn’t take up much room, so the layouts of our music shops changed. And then came CDs. I can remember the first CD sections were tiny, usually shoved in a corner. The first CD I ever bought was ‘Huey Lewis and the News: Sports,’ not because this was the CD I was looking for, but because there wasn’t much of a selection and that was all I could find. Kids today wouldn’t know what to do with a cassette tape. I’m sure they’d look at it like it was an alien relic. And when they discovered the tape itself could be pulled out, there’d be loose tape strewn about like toilet paper. They definitely we...
Post a Comment
Read more

More Thoughts on Bars and Restaurants

  Sometimes it's hard for me to believe that I spent 25 years of my life in the restaurant business, especially now that I’ve been out for five years. I worked at some great places. I worked with some great people. Some amazing chefs. And I had a great time. Most of the time. During my time in the business, I learned the ins and outs of a restaurant and a bar. I even took my knowledge and experience further by attending The Culinary Institute of America up in Hyde Park, NY. But that’s for another post. This post is to share some of my thoughts on the business, as well as some suggestions for how to act in a restaurant or bar. Heed my suggestions if you want, or don’t. It’s all good. But should you try a few of them out, you might just find that your experience was a little better. A little more special. A little more magical. And finally, for those of you who are reading this and are in the business or have been at some point, I hope that this post makes you smile, giggle, and nod ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thoughts on depression

I've had depression for as long as I can remember. For most of that time I have self-medicated in one form or another. As I get older, my relationship with my mental health has matured and I find myself looking at it and dealing with it in different ways. And looking back since the days of Covid, I remember the dozen-plus friends that I've lost, though not all of them were from depression, and realize that confronting our mental health and finding a way to live with it is crucial. Through my 25 years of bartending, I came to understand what alcoholism really looks like. I saw it every night and it looked different on every person. What I came to know, to truly know and believe, is that alcoholism is not something that can be determined by filling out some government questionaire. It is an individual disease. What becomes a problem for one person does not effect the other person. I could serve one regular six doubles of Jack Daniels and feel fine with how they were. And I could ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thoughts on My Children Growing Up

  Nine. Seven. Four. How is that possible? My kids are growing up. I can remember holding them in the hospital when they were just born. And now I'm fussing at them for raiding the refrigerator. I tell my little girls almost every day to stop growing up. They're at the perfect age right now. They're at the perfect size. The world isn't the mean, cold place that you and I live in. Santa Claus is real. Dreams can still come true. Hopes have not yet been dashed. Hearts haven't been broken. So, stop growing up, damn it! Enough already! I'm sure this is true with every generation, but it's so much different for my kids than it was for me. I'm willing to go on record, though, that Gen X's kids have a WAY different childhood than their kids are having. I'm reminded of this daily. A few days ago, Briar and I walked to the big kids' school to join them on their walk home. We met another mom who is a good friend of ours and we chatted on our walk. The ...
Post a Comment
Read more