Spring
Sleep these days has become an exercise in pain management. My hips hurt, my shoulders hurt, my foot hurts, old hernia repairs hurt. I pulled something in my right arm moving a dresser. It now hurts. I’d like to think there’s a way out of it, but I’m pretty sure it’s just my lot in life. I occupy an old frame and even though I’ve tried to treat my body with respect things just happen.
The end result is that when I wake up now, I just wake up. I’ve given up worrying about going back to sleep because it feels like work, and I’d rather it came naturally. So, I get up and walk around the dark house, step out onto the porch, enjoy the night. I take naps too. That helps, and I still find it easy to go to sleep when the first call for sleep comes early in the night. So, all is not lost. And it may simply be that I’m not getting enough exercise. Spring may take care of that because I’m back to doing yard work.
Spring takes care of a lot of things actually. It’s the season of starting over and I’ve always found blooms to be a good restorative, especially when things are going bad and your soul might be hurting for one reason or another and sometimes for no reason at all. Blooms and the soft green leaves of new growth promise a lot, and deliver, too. Shade, fruit, and flowers. A nice response to the loving touch of their caretaker and a firm message that life in all its forms is carrying on.