Why am I so tired today?
Yep. This question sent me right back to a checklist of rampant hypochondria. I tried to go for some rational explanations:
-Did I sleep enough?
-Do I have allergies?
-Do I have allergies?
-Have I eaten well enough?
-Am I dehydrated? Have I not been drinking enough water?
-Is it just the dog days of midsummer? Is it the doldrums?
But I knew I was on the Express Train of Paranoia going to one station and one station only:
-Do I have a potentially-deadly virus?
I checked out all of the above analyzing my sleep, eating, exercise, and drinking habits. Nope. I was rested, I've been working out. I've had tons of water. I'm taking my vitamins, etc.
I checked pollen.com.: Nothing. No reason for feeling tired and foggy headed.
So I checked my temperature. 96.4. (A little low, even for me.)
So, the good news: Not actively dying.
The bad news: I still felt crappy and didn't know why.
The bad news: I still felt crappy and didn't know why.
I mean, nothing dramatically terrible - just lethargic, and having a hard time focusing and getting motivated. Also, a little bummed out.
But, hey, welcome to the club. We're a whole world worrying about a deadly disease, bad economies, and less-than-genius leadership in the matter. Why would I not be a little bummed out?
Looking For a Solution
Michael helpfully suggested a couple of things that might jolt me out of my sleepy state: How 'bout earthing in the back yard? Or maybe take a drive out into the country with the top down?
Going outside sounded reasonable. But who had the energy to leave the house...even to go sit in the back yard for a while. But then I thought that maybe I could just go fill the fountain.
Filling the Fountain
I've often brainstormed ways to get a drip-line to automatically fill the fountain. It hasn't actually happened because a) I don't want to do it...and complaining about it out loud was just in the vague hope that it would get Michael excited about ways to figure that out. b) I really can't see how it would work since the amount of water needed to keep it filled varies a lot. If it's hot or especially if it's a windy day...the fountain needs to be filled before mid-afternoon. On a rainy day, any extra water would just overflow. And in the winter the fountain will freeze overnight.
Through the years I've come to see filling the fountain as a positive thing. I get so wrapped up in my little inside-the-house/inside-my-brain world that I often don't have any idea what the weather is like outside.
Filling the fountain takes only about 10 minutes and it's 10 minutes to get a change of scenery, experience the weather, check out what the birds and squirrels are up to, and I usually get a lot of maintenance done too. I'll deadhead some flowers, scoop up some leaves that have gathered in the corners, pull some weeds that have started growing between the pavers.
It's probably a good thing that I have this time of day to clear my head, enjoy nature, and do a few things outside.
Today It Worked Like a Charm
I knew this would jolt me out of my gloomy, lethargic state the minute I stepped out the back door. Sunshine! A nice breeze.
The big basket of vinca blooming to beat the band. What a beautiful day! Why was I inside missing all of this?
I got out the hose, put it in the fountain, then got the clippers and started cutting back some black-eyed Susan's that had played out. (Hmmm...there's my metaphor. All the Susan's are in mid-summer mini-deaths?).
After the fountain filled I put the hose away and started to put up the clippers in the garage.
Yikes!
I noticed the vines, on the trellis by the garage, were dead. I've been trying to ignore this on previous mornings, since it looked like a pretty big project. But, hey, I had the clippers in my hand so I started finding where the dead part started and clipping away at those vines.
Michael came out about the time I was shaking the whole trellis attempting to loosen the dead stuff.
I screamed and dropped the clippers before I even realized what was happening.
Michael: "What's wrong?!"
Me: (finally registering the problem). Wasps!
There were at least a half dozen buzzing, circling, wasps.
I ran into the house, my arm on fire from the sting.
Electroshock Therapy
The sting of a wasp is a powerful thing. It's like being struck with a live electrical wire.
Shockwaves were running from the sting on my arm, and spreading out in growing circles through my body.
My heart started racing. I couldn't catch my breath, and oh yeah, the sting itself hurt like hell.
Michael got a sting-relief stick and handed it to me. I put that on, then some chickweed salve I'd bought at some point, and held an ice cube on the sting. My heart rate started to lower a bit.
Well That Woke Me Up
So, as you can see, all it takes is a little time out in nature and I'm completely energized and clear-headed!
...and I came up and wrote my post for today in half the usual time. Thanks wasps!
P.S. I realize, now, that I kind of like the look of dead vines. Those wasps can live there as long as they want. I'm definitely not going to bother them.
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Here are some jokes at the wasp's expense... (Since that sting was at my arm's expense.)
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"Customer at Home Depot: Is this spray good for wasps?
Home Depot employee: No. It kills them."
-upjoke.com
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"What sound does a wasp make when it hits your windshield?
A bee flat."
-upjoke.com
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