In My Bed

Brrrr!!!!  It's so very, very cold out there...and snowy....and windy!  I have such a hard time getting motivated to EVER leave the house these days.  In fact, I have a hard time getting up in the morning. 


My bed is my favorite place.  It's warm and snuggly and my window looks out onto the wooded side of our property, so even with the curtains open I enjoy just laying there gazing at nature.  Most of the time, I have company in the bed: Bushy.  He is also a big fan of my bed because it's about the only place he can get any peace in the house.  In fact, yesterday he felt so comfortable there, he puked on it - twice.  I had an emergency laundry job at 9pm.  Such fun.


One of my favorite things to do as I'm trying to get to sleep at night is to close my eyes and imagine myself in other beds and rooms I've slept in over the years.


First, I remember the room I shared with my sister growing up.  It had bright red carpet - yes, bright red carpet - and pale pink walls.  We had bunk beds and, because I was older, I mostly occupied the top bunk.  My poor sister had to put up with me rearranging the room 3-4 times a year (something I've never outgrown!) so our beds were in just about every position they could be in that little 12'x12' room.  I can still remember our desk for homework and, later, make-up, and the baby animal posters I had all over the walls.  I remember when we figured out that we could crawl out the window onto the roof and go visit our brothers next door.  I loved that little room.


Then I move on to the house we inhabited during my high school years; no more bunk beds for us.  We had a big walk-in closet that doubled as storage for large pots and pans, since the room was right off the kitchen.  My dad built a small desk in there to do my homework, but it was always freezing so I rarely used it. The carpet in the room was green and the walls were again, pink.  I had the wall over my bed covered with corkboard and at first I thought I'd never be able to fill it, but it didn't take me long at all!  I loved that the phone was right outside the room because I could talk to my friends in relative privacy. (That's when phones were still corded.)


My college dorm room in Vermont- I actually had two, since we moved to a different building the second semester.  The first one was so tiny, it was changed to a single after my roommate and I moved out.  I loved it, though.  I had my bed right near the dormer window and I can remember the view perfectly, especially after our first big snowfall.  The second room was much bigger but lacked character since it was in a newer building. I woke up one morning to a song:  "Where the Streets Have No Name," by U2.  It was one of those perfect spring mornings and someone had it blasting from their window for the guys who were playing "mud football" on the front lawn.  Whenever I hear that song, I am instantly transported back to that sunny Saturday in May, one of my last in Vermont.  It was such a magical time in my life.


When I was in my mid-20's I shared a flat with a guy and my room was right near a tree.  It was as close to sleeping in a tree house as  you could get without mosquito bites.  The house has been torn down now, but whenever I drive past I see that tree and remember my time in that flat.  Bittersweet memories.


I remember the bed in Chris and I's apartment when we first got married.  I remember kneeling down next to that bed as I waited for the results of my pregnancy test, praying it would be positive.  I remember those times when we would first get into bed and our beloved cat, Sir, would crawl up between us.  I remember moving that bed to our first house and laying with my newborn Owen in it.


When I'm in my bed now, it usually means that everyone I love is within a few feet of me and the peace and security I feel wraps around  me as I drift to sleep.  I remember the blessings of the past and am so thankful for the present.    Is it any wonder I never want to get out?