Making the Bed

My friend Reya sometimes talks about people having their own internal weather. I've been thinking about that concept lately. My internal weather seems to have taken a turn for the better, from tempestuous seas  and storminess of the soul to a much more placid calm.

Why that is, I'm not sure. Maybe it's the sense that the long darkness of winter is coming to an end. (In that case, I shouldn't get ahead of myself -- we're supposed to have freezing temperatures again this week, and flurries today.) It is encouraging to see crocuses and daffodils blooming and to have more sunlight, even when it's filtered to a flat gray by clouds. It's better than pitch darkness.

I'm also trying to take a little better care of myself. Not that I'd been letting myself go -- that implies that I spent hours kicked back in a recliner eating Cheetos, which is hardly the case. But as I've said before, when you work at home, it's easy to delay taking a shower and then spend all day in your pajamas. Not to mention shaving -- I hate shaving, so skipping it seems like a no-brainer. It's easy to skip my exercises, eat too much of Dave's yummy but rich French cooking and drink too much wine.

I'm taking care to get cleaned up and dressed each day, to shave daily or almost daily, to do my sit-ups and push-ups as well as continue my walking and photography. I'm also trying to be a bit more conscientious about eating well and drinking less. It just makes me feel better -- and calmer, and more like myself. (Fortunately I don't have a body type that easily gains weight, and as you know I walk a lot so I get plenty of cardio exercise. My weight hasn't changed at all, as far as I can tell. Not that we own a scale.)

And you know what's funny -- I am very fastidious about making the bed. It seems like a little thing, but to me, that small act creates an orderly atmosphere that permeates the rest of the house. If I make the bed, I feel like I am in control of my day. I am continuing to make the bed.

So, anyway, that's what's going on with my internal weather.

Olga has been a bit of a nut the past few days. I took her for a very long walk yesterday, all the way to Norfolk Square near Paddington, the neighborhood where I stayed when I visited London as a tourist in 2000 and 2003. Never did I dream then that 10 years later I would be living nearby with a partner, and walking past the same hotel with our dog! You'd think such an excursion would wear her out, but exercise seems to have an inverse effect on her energy levels. The more I walk her, the nuttier she gets. As I type this, however, she is sound asleep on my feet.

I went on an iTunes spending binge last night, which felt great. I needed to liven up my iPod with some fresh tunes. (Fresh to me, anyway. The tunes themselves are all oldies, because this is my iPod we're talking about.) I bought three early Moody Blues albums that I didn't own ("In Search of the Lost Chord", "A Question of Balance" and "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour"). I also bought some beloved Led Zeppelin tunes ("Ramble On," "Over the Hills and Far Away," "All of My Love") and additional stuff ranging from Everything but the Girl and Belle and Sebastian to Aerosmith. Hours of listening pleasure!

(Photo: Off Barking Road near Plaistow, last weekend.)