Yes, it’s raining once more, despite the 30% chance limitation from the forecast. I haven’t read about any records being broken, but I would say we’re getting close to what is or should be normal at this time of year. That would be nice.
The other day I was listening to a story about sleep and found it quite fascinating. Apparently, very few humans get by on less than 5 hours of sleep; less than 10%. And most need at least 7 hours. The story went on to describe how we have changed our sleep patterns over the past few centuries and not for the good. It’s those darn electric lights! (Curse you, T.A. Edison...and you to, A.G. Bell!)
Naturally, I thought about how it has changed in our lifetime. Growing up, we were in bed by 7:30 until we got to the age of 8 or 9. Then it was 8:30. At the age of 12, we got to stay up till 9. By the age of 16, we were closing in on
And we only had to look back to our Nana’s childhood to see that her generation depended on lanterns and candles and the radio was entirely absent. How late would you stay up?
Anyway, the story went on to describe the sleeping patterns of those early years and apparently they were accustomed to what were called first and second sleeps. People would go to bed early (why not?) and sleep for 4 or 5 hours and then awaken. There was period of an hour or more when people would converse or simply lie awake. Then came the second sleep for an additional 4 or 5 hours. This was normal enough to be included in the literature of the day.
To be honest, can we say that the light bulb has been around long enough for our bodies to have evolved to a point where we need less sleep? I don’t think so. Although I only sleep for about 6 hours each night, it’s really my ‘second sleep’. I’ve already had an hour or more in my chair or on the couch.
Yes, I nap. I love it! I even look forward to it. It’s a great time for bonding with our cat, who loves to nap as well. I lay down on the couch and she snuggles into the crook of my arm. We’re happy.
No comments:
Post a Comment