Frogs and Fatigue
Fatigue is kicking my ass this week. It has been for the past few weeks, but I attributed that to the physical labor of packing all the stuff I wanted to bring to Portland into the cars, and then unloading it and putting it away. That work is mostly done now, and I’m still waking up in the mornings feeling tired, and falling asleep in the afternoons. And feeling incredibly hot and uncomfortable in between.
What became of my beautiful equilibrium? I hope I’m just experiencing the effects of a crash, and that this is not my new normal. I thought living in Portland would mean less fatigue and heat exhaustion. We have air-conditioning here! (But it’s not room-by-room, so I have to make everyone else frigid if I want to be comfortable [and honestly, why am I not doing that? They can put on a sweater].) We don’t have stairs, so I’m not going up and down all day! (But we don’t have a yard, so we have to take the dog out regularly and walk him around the block, but I’m only doing that once a day and it shouldn’t be that tiring.)
I’m holding out hope for the rainy weather that’s on the way, and in the meantime trying to take a page from my frogs’ books:
These guys haven’t moved in days. The ride up from California was pretty exhausting for them, even though all they had to do was sit in a tank. I don’t think they got any sleep, though, because the vibration and road noise was probably pretty alarming. Their first day in their new habitat, they explored every corner, and even looked like they were plotting an escape:
But after that, they each found a place to burrow and stayed there. That’s what I need to do. If I would burrow for a few days, I’d probably come out of it with my normal energy restored. Instead, I keep making myself do things.
So, this weekend: we burrow. I’m going to ignore the list of things I still need to do. I’m going to stay in one spot and not move unless I absolutely have to—a spot where I can have access to the TV, my phone, a bottle of water, and the books I picked up at Powell’s yesterday. I’d rather be up doing fun and creative stuff, but I’m diagnosing myself Overtired and I prescribing myself Rest. If a creature with two brain cells can rest when it’s tired, then so can I.
