Apparently groundhogs have a sweet tooth for strawberry plants. Today is June 15.
Regardless of the fact that for the last several nights I’ve gotten more than 10 hours of sleep, my body is still selfishly craving time in bed. I would have thought that after the first few weeks to a month after school finished I’d be back to not needing obscene quantities of rest, but I guess that’s not the case. As part of my new commitment to health and taking care of myself, I’m no longer staying up late and (attempting to not) sleep in late. For now that seems to be a losing battle, but I’ll keep fighting.
In the morning, I woke up to a quiet house. My mom was at the hospital with my grandpa for an appointment, and my brother and dad weren’t upstairs. I made myself a leisurely breakfast and enjoyed it while watching the world go by outside. I sometimes forget to take time, slow down and watch nature go about its business. Watching birds fly about or butterflies move from flower to flower is relaxing in a way no electronic device can mimic.
Even though I wasn’t in the mood, I took an hour or so in the afternoon to workout. Today I lifted weights and focused on abdominal exercises. Unlike yesterday where I felt energetic and ready to move, today I was more content to do slow, intentional lifts. The hardest one I focused on was, surprisingly, arm circles. I put on a song, and for the duration of the song I did forward and backward arm circles. I wasn’t expecting the move to be difficult, but I’m going to incorporate it more in the future because it seemed to be beneficial.
Almost the exact time I finished working out, my mom and grandpa returned home. The appointment had taken longer than they’d expected, but fortunately the procedure had seemed to go well. My mom informed me, though, she’d have to spend the night with my grandpa to make sure he was alright because the doctor predicted he would experience some swelling around his eyes, and one of his eyes could swell shut. My mom and grandpa hung around the house for a bit while my mom packed an overnight bag. I gave my grandpa a few cookies for the road, and then they were on their way. I hope he feels better soon, but I know my mom is taking good care of him.
I made myself a bowl of Greek honey yogurt with granola and strawberries after they left. I hope I don’t burn myself out on the snack, which I tend to do if I eat one food for a long time. I watched some Netflix while I ate, but I didn’t have any clear plans for how I wanted to spend the rest of my day. Tomorrow Anna Xu and I are working on selecting and submitting entries to the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, but for now we’re in good shape.
A little while after my brother and dad got back from playing tennis and hanging out at a pool, my brother suggested he and I watch Veronica Mars together. He’s seen the show already, but he’s watching the old episodes with me so we can watch the most recent season together. I really enjoy the show, but I’m more happy we are able to spend time hanging out, even if it’s only when we’re watching TV. For most of the evening, I spent some time alone. I’m planning to go to sleep early tonight, so hopefully my day will start before 9:45 a.m. tomorrow.
“I dream. Sometimes I think that’s the only right thing to do.” ― Haruki Murakami
How did you spend your 90th day of social distancing? Let us know in the comments below.
