Getting out of bed after nine o’clock in the morning normally appals me. It’s frankly repugnant to my instinctive work ethic cultivated over years of study and employment. But now no longer learning or working I have the privilege to submit to the urge to sleep whenever it strikes. Shamelessly I do so. Restoration is good. Besides it’s not as though I’m going to be late for a meeting!
What however irks me more than the violation of an obsolete work ethic is that by lying in bed I fear missing something. This unaccounted loss is not just the sunshine (though that alone is not insignificant) but the disruption of pregnant routine and habit assiduously honed. Of necessity the time slots for breakfast and whatever else I normally do in the morning get shifted ahead and as a result threaten to crowd the customary afternoon agenda and risk being drowned in the process. There is nothing I can say to elevate the gravity of those mundane habits except to acknowledge that their performance vindicates me. All my life I have alternated between indulgence and absolution, each as enthusiastically prosecuted as the other. It is not abnormal for creatures jealously to guard their customs.
These distortions to my drill are happily infrequent (I really do love my shtick) and accommodating them is less aggravating than I at first imagine. Moderate acceleration of the regime usually ensures that only minor deference or trimming is required to complete the cycle as originally planned. Once I’m back in gear it’s off to the races!
All this nonsense is by way of introduction to what turned out to be a very pleasant day, thank-you! My matutinal conventions unfolded in due course and soon I was on my bicycle for some improving afternoon exercise. Regrettably I have lately debated the merits of bicycling as it seems to aggravate the deteriorating condition of some discs along my spine. But I have persisted not knowing any other suitable alternative. For example I dislike walking. I am ill-suited to walking but also because I find it more dreary and constrained than a speedy and adventurous tour on a bicycle. I suspect too that the nexus of man and machine bears sway as well (though these clunker, one-gear rental bikes we have here on Hilton Head Island only barely qualify as a mechanical instrument).
The subsequent paradigm in my day was lounging in the sun by the pool. This enactment took place earlier than usual because I avoided cycling on the beach (the tide was too high). This meant I circumscribed my ride considerably. And because I generally linger in the sun for no longer than an hour, there was still time in the late afternoon to do other things. Like driving my car, indisputably one of my very favourite things to do.
Naturally having a destination in mind improves a drive in the car. I had a couple of outstanding items on my iPhone Reminders; one, lens cleaner for my eye glasses; and two, a new sleep mask. Weird, I know. But I rely on both items daily. You would think that finding lens cleaner would not be a problem; but it is. Though the product can be found in regular grocery stores, it is not a quality product. When I later purchased lens cleaner through an optician, the clerk there pointed out that the cheap renditions contain alcohol which causes streaks especially on the new high-index lenses. As for the sleep mask, this is also something I have found in grocery stores but once again the quality is atrocious. This is a product which most people would be hard pressed to locate. I took a chance upon T. J. Maxx and to my surprise the clerk directed me to the “beauty department” where I located several models of sleep mask of varying prices (including one model with beaded gels suitable for headache, sinus and hang-over issues).