Early to bed, early to rise...

Before I retired I used to get up early. Really early. Like 5:00 AM early. And yes, I have some retired friends who still get up that early. But not me. I am finding that I like to go to bed later and get up later these days. I had an 8:30 AM meeting this morning and it was a bit of a struggle to get up, shower, do my morning NYTimes puzzles and gather my papers and various devices to make it to that meeting on time. I did it but I found myself wondering, “And why did I agree to serve on this committee?!?!”

I think I have gotten lazy. Yes, I said it. Lazy. Never an adjective I wanted to use to describe myself, but retirement has made me truly enjoy the days when I have nothing on my schedule. I am quite cheerful when I look ahead at the next day or two on my calendar and see nothing there. Three cheers for empty calendar squares!

I don’t have the ability to sleep until noon like I once did as a teenager; I notice some of our grandchildren admirably pulling off that feat these days! But for me it is such a delight to just wake up when I wake up. No alarm clock. To get up when I am ready to get up. I think it is one of the gifts of retirement and a gift that I cherish. I know that not everyone, not every retired person, can do this. I know that there are some people that can’t even retire at all, much less revel in sleeping in. I am very, very lucky.

There are a number of books out these days that talk about how wonderful it is to get up early, very early, and spend that morning time to learn a new skill or ponder life or go out into the forest for an early morning walk— and I have even tried it a time or two. After all, for decades I was a super early riser. Gone. Just not for me any longer. There are just not those kind of demands on me any more.

We don’t have a dog that needs to go out for a walk. Some days that makes me a bit sad; I love dogs. But then when I wake up and it is pouring rain or we have had one of our rare icy mornings or I just don’t want to get out of bed yet, I am like, “Oh, yes. I don’t think I really want a dog.”

Now that’s lazy indeed. When we visited our son in Minnesota after Hurricane Helene hit Asheville, we loved that he was fostering a dog. She was bouncy and fun and very sweet. And she adored my husband Tom. Every afternoon Tom would take a nap on the couch and Melody would join him for her afternoon siesta. They were two little napping peas in a pod.

Little children and babies may not sleep when you wish they would sleep but they do have an amazing capacity to fall into sweet slumber. I remember our son as a toddler falling fast asleep as we stood on a sidewalk to watch a parade march by. Horns. Drums. Feet pounding the pavement. Even a firetruck with a siren. And he slept through the entire parade. Peaceful as could be.

I no longer go to bed very early, but I don’t really stay up into the wee hours either. I generally head to bed around 9 PM but not to sleep really. I watch television for an hour. Always a happy show. No blood, no guns, no tricky mysteries. I have watched all the Ted Lasso seasons now five times. I am currently watching all the seasons of Schitt’s Creek—again. Like I said, happy shows. Shows that make me smile or laugh or just sigh with delight. Show that grind away and buff the hard edge of some of today’s politics and other troubles. And just so you know, I have zero guilt that we have a television in the bedroom. Getting older helps you let go of some expectations (your own and those of others) and just cuddle up and enjoy a late night laugh or two.

I used to read before sleep but now that I wear glasses with progressive lens, I find it difficult to read in bed. So television is my diversion of choice. I would love to stay up really late and catch Stephen Colbert or another late night show but that is just too late for me. I am usually asleep by 10 PM or at the latest 11 PM. No more late, late nights out with friends or revising a sermon into the wee hours or rocking a baby so that at least one of us would get some sleep. Those days have come and gone and that is okay. Rigid schedules are no longer needed. I am grateful for this. Absolutely grateful that I have such a loose and lovely schedule at this time of my life. It is important to recognize and celebrate our blessings each and every day.