Hand Me Downs

You’ve likely caught this from my twitter feed, but I’m off schedule.  Last night, I didn’t sleep.  I had a sore neck yesterday, and the chiropractor’s magic was still kicking in.  Whether due to soreness, Kenny’s elbow on my pillow, or the feeling that there might be a flea in the bed trying to bite me, I didn’t sleep.  I stayed up today, running on fumes and caffeine, until 4:30 (pm), when I had a glass of wine and a Benadryl and MADE myself sleep.  I woke at 8:30 (pm), and saw that the sun was going down.  I dragged my lethargic and half-drugged body out of bed, realizing that if I kept sleeping, I would wake up around 1 am, and we’d go around again.

Well, it’s 1 am.

I’m awake and slaphappy.  I watched an episode of Hercule Poirot, then made a run to the Mas Tacos Por Favor truck for a smoked local pork taco.  I decided to swing by Ugly Mugs and see if any friends were lingering at Derek Webb’s cd release, and chatted with a few dear ones who were still straggling.  10:30 pm at this point.

  

I came home and since then I have:

-Organized my dresser drawers.

-Emptied and refilled the icetrays and put the ice in a zip-loc.

-Washed the dishes and wiped off the counter.

-Cleared the dining room table and prepared it for writing in the morning.  Well, let’s be honest.  Whenever I wake up.

-Folded three loads of laundry.

-Put another load through.

-Re-shelved books that have been lingering on my bedside stand.  (Three Harry Potters, Kathleen Norris’s Acedia and Me, The Complete Father Brown, N.T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope, Walter Wangerin’s As For Me And My House)

Speaking of Walter Wangerin, I read his classic The Book of the Dun Cow on the Cayamo cruise a couple of months ago.  Linford Detweiler raised an eyebrow, thinking it was a bit of a violent read for cruise material.  I hadn’t started reading yet- he was right.  Rooster fights are not pretty.   Evil trying to take over the face off the earth- a bit rough.

 The fable is pertinent (I say at 1:26 am on no sleep) to this time warp in which I find myself.  You see, in this tale, there is a great evil named Wyrm whom God has shut up in the center of the earth.  He is kept in there by the web of harmonious communities of talking animals (it was a long time ago, and far, far away) on the face of the earth.  The communities are ruled and shepherded by roosters, some wiser than others.  Our main character is a proud, strong, loving rooster named Chauntecleer, who does everything in his limited power to fight Wyrm and protect his community.  Chauntecleer crows the liturgy of the day- sunrise, rest time, work time, sundown, midnight watch.  When Wyrm’s darkness covers the face of the earth, the animals are terrified and confused.  Chauntecleer faithfully crows the hours, though, and provides center and familiarity  in the middle of their fear.

We had post-dinner wine and chocolate with our friends the Haacks and Richters in Rochester, MN, just before the cruise, and they were discussing The Book of the Dun Cow.  Denis Haack  pointed out the beauty and comfort of that rhythm, the crowing of the hours- the compass point in the middle of disorientation, and what a kindness it was.  To speak surety to uncertainty, to speak truth to people on shifting emotional, cultural, political, economic ground, it’s a comfort indeed.

 

What if the sun rose when I did and set when I slept?  I need a Copernican revelation, letting me know that the sun does not in fact revolve around me.  For a Katy who’s clock is off, who wants breakfast at 9:30 pm and will try to remember to make herself sleep before dawn, the sunrise and sunset set me straight.  

Now what to do for our poor friends  Emily and Eric, who are in Iceland, where it’s never dark.  Well they’re in Iceland, and this is the view from their flat.  I have no pity.  As long as you’re still awake and putzing around, go have a look at Emily’s beautiful new blog: http://alltherestofit.wordpress.com/  As close as many of us will get to Iceland this side things.

Ahhh, and the 4th of July fireworks begin at 1:30 am.  Sleep?  Who  needs sleep?