Sunday Seven AM. A day off from delivering mail. I'm in front of the fire while the rest of the family sleeps. Once and awhile I'll see a cat scurry by. We've got 4 of them living with us for the time being.
This morning Skippy curled up next to my head in bed. I was mostly awake worrying about this or that hoping to get back to sleep. So I decided to lay my head on him and listen to him pur. Calming, but I couldn't get back to sleep.
So I got up, took my cold shower, meditated, and here I am in front of the fire. All is well. Thankful for this fire on this 10 below morning.
I delivered mail mostly on unplowed roads yesterday. Not the first time. I had the old jeep in 4 wheel drive for the whole route. I delivered to every box and house. We were told to deliver at our own discretion. Any roads we didn't think we could travel or boxes we couldn't get to we could pass up. I usually do the opposite and see if I can get it all done accurately. I like the challenge. Plus, not that many people are out. I kind of feel like I have the area to myself. So I get to 4 wheel through snow and get paid for it. It could be worse.
I did take a nap on the route. When I get tired I will pull over in a safe location, set my smartphone timer for 4 minutes, and take a power nap. Like clockwork I can fall asleep in less then 30 seconds. Three and half minutes later the timer goes off, I wake up, hit end lunch on my scanner, and I'm refreshed.
I started experimenting with this after listening to an ultra marathoner on the Joe Rogan show. They told how during a 100 mile race they would periodically find a spot to lay down, sleep for 1 minute, reset their body, get up, and continue running. So I worked that into my mail delivery method. I average 4 to 6 hours of sleep a night. So those power naps get me through the day.
Yesterday was different though. My timer never went off. When I woke up I saw white woods and road. I thought I'd fallen asleep while driving and crashed, or maybe was dead. Then I looked at my phone and it was at 13 minutes and counting. I knew then what happened. I set my stopwatch instead of my timer. Can't make that mistake again. We're only allowed a half hour of lunch a day.
One time, while delivering out on the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation, I woke up with a knock on the window. Here it was a guy that lived up the road and was passing by. He saw me sitting there with my head back, eyes closed, and mouth hanging open. He was checking to see if I was dead. I just laughed when he told me that. I should've been more embarrassed, but I wasn't. I felt less judged delivering in Indian Country. I miss delivering out there. If this culture ever totally collapses I might just try to go live out there.
Put me back in the 19th century and I would've been one of the Europeans that joined the Indians. What did Benjamin Franklin say?
"No European who has tasted Savage life can afterwards bear to live in our societies.”
I hope you have a great day!
Fire 128
2.9.25
