Saturday, January 7, 2012

Cheer Up, Sleepy Jean

Not exactly daydream believin', just sleepy. I'm amused by people who say they can't sleep in. Not a problem. Conversely, I've done my time waking before the cock crows, too. The last few years that The Register-Mail was an afternoon paper I found myself rolling out of bed between 4 and 5 a.m. 

I never relied on a lot of sleep, overnight anyway, but these days I find I have trouble waking early. Perhaps it’s the night owl hours I keep so frequently because of the morning paper schedule. But even an early bedtime tends to leave me sleepy when the alarm sounds. And if I don’t have a morning commitment it’s all too easy to roll over and enjoy the comfort of the comforter. Hence it’s name, I suppose.

And so it was Friday when the buzzer sounded at 6 a.m. Ah, no need to rise so early today. Besides D3 is staying over and we were up late. Just a while longer. But that is so dangerous. It is so easy to give in to that temptation and just sleep away half the day. That wouldn’t go over well with certain friends now that I’ve declared my resolution to stick to my regimen of running and writing (even if the writing part is sometimes delayed by the rest of life’s schedule).

Anyway, with a house guest asleep in my abode, I had intended to run on the indoor track. But the unseasonably balmy weather was too great a lure and I headed out the door for a road run after informing D3 of my change of plans. It was a joy to be in the fresh air – in T-shirt and shorts no less (or should I say “nothing more”?).

It wasn’t quite a bonanza day on the scavenging side, but I did gather a few cans and picked up a peck of litter. The 1000 block of North Cherry Street was strewn with pages from one of those quirky catalogs you receive unsolicited. This one was Signatures. I first simply photographed the mess, but a bit of guilt creeped in as I considered the ugly mess. Were any of the residents of this lovely brick street neighborhood likely to pick up the pages? No. And I’m claiming any virtue by my action. I just felt I would be a jerk not to do it.

Eighty pages later I was on my way.

Back home I thumbed through some of the leaves. Just what can you buy from Signatures? Plenty.

“Here is … the Johnny Carson Show” – a 3 DVD set
“Best of Eddy Arnold” – 2 CD set
The “AmazingTransforming Mini Sphere” from Hoberman
The famous “As Seen on TV” Snuggie!
“The Very Best of Andres Segovia: Guitar Genius” – 4 CD set of the Spanish guitar legend
Pre-seasoned cast iron skillets
“Black Beauty” – The complete mini series on DVD
“How Not to Act Like a Little Old Lady” – sounds like a good bathroom book
Rogers & Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma” – with Hugh Jackman!
The easy and elegant “Cami Secret” mock camisole to “hide cleavage” – WTF? Boo!
Eggies” – A clever set of plastic pieces for making hard-boiled eggs without all the fuss of peeling that damned shell

And loads of other stuff from jewelry to clothing to purses to ultra-fancy tweezers for the most stubborn of nose hairs.

Boy, am I glad I stopped for that mess!  

Today's Stats
Temp: 42 degrees F
Distance: 2.5 miles
Weekly Total: 8.5 miles
Treasure: 80 pages from a Signatures catalog; 16 cans; 1 cigarette pack.

iPod Playlist (shuffle)
The Marauders - Tears for Fears
The Lie - Matthew West
Pursuance - John Coltrane
Monkey Wash, DonkeyRinse (Cover) - David Lindley & Ry Cooder
Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon
Rip This Joint - The Rolling Stones (live)
So What - Miles Davis

No comments:

Post a Comment