NO POLITICS IN BED!

 Some years ago I remember seeing bed pillows for sale with one emblazoned with, YES, and the other with, NO. Well, I guess that is one way of organizing your sex life, although I would not get behind it. Seems there is a lack of nuance there. What about one in the middle saying, MAYBE? Depending on how cuddly your partner is, the amount of touching offered, and a good and listening ear.

 

I want to segue to another thing not to do in bed--don't bring politics into it or on it. Especially if you have a memory-foam mattress.. I noticed that this was a problem with my fair self, not my darling husband. As we lay on the bed a few nights back, reading (he favors apocalyptical novels where everything turns out very bad, very dire), whereas I favor light English mysteries with a dose of romance.   (See the Acton and Doyle mysteries with a Catholic flavor and a sense of fey, as Irish Doyle can tell when people are lying and telling the truth. Being somewhat fey myself, I love this.) 

 

Every now and then I will forget my own rule for preserving peace and harmony at the end of the day and say, "What do you think, honey? Looks like all of the corrupt GOP Senators will vote to not convict Trump, eh? CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?? said in a fierce whisper. Rick may or may not answer, sometimes just nodding in agreement and saying, "Looks like it." Thus admonished to let politics go, I subside and dive into my Acton/Doyle mystery again.

But the problem is that I bring politics into bed within my OWN worried brain. I feverishly go over Heather Cox Richardson's news analysis for the day, wondering about McConnell, and is his threat to Schumer actually a sign of "weakness"? And what about those GOP traitors in Congress--will they be tried or not? How can evil tools like Hawley and Cruz have any say in convicting or not convicting our traitorous former President?

 

I suspect this goes back to my childhood and being brought up by Marxist parents who had a deep sense of social justice, wrongs being done in our society, and what needed to be done to fix them. I have always hated injustice of any sort, whether political, personal, relational, or what have you. It is bred in the bone. So whenever I see injustice happening in our country--George Floyd, how the troops handled the mostly peaceful protests in Oregon and elsewhere; how the police who murdered Breyonna Taylor are not going to be tried and charged; how the rich 1% just got richer and richer under Trump--my fuse sparks. This is what I take into bed with me. No wonder it takes me over an hour to go to sleep! No wonder I have to take melatonin and other sleep aides to rest my restless, angry brain.

Although I am just about out the door of the Catholic Church right now, I do still say the Rosary inside as I wait for sleep, feet twitching.

 This ancient prayer and its repetition helps my heart to beat more slowly. Probably if I wore my Apple Watch to bed and checked on my Heartbeat (always fun to do), I would see it dropping from 76 to 50 or even 48.

So, my peeps, take some advice from your hill-dwelling friend, who is beyond happy and encouraged by our recent Inauguration. Biden's speech! Such dignity, such vision, such experience! Kamala Harris signaling with Michelle Obama and being sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor! Amanda Gorman declaring and acting out her amazing poem, "The Hill We Climb."

 The utter diversity of folks up on stage warmed my heart. Lady Gaga belting out the Anthem. JLo singing like a fierce angel. And the woman of color, I believe the first woman Fire Chief, signing the Pledge of Allegiance. How fine is that? With all of this to encourage us and calm our brains, at least some of the time (and I am most happy to inform you all that my nervous cough which appeared under Trump's last year has disappeared), leave politics out of the bedroom and definitely off of the bed. Otherwise, my memory foam mattress might wake me at 2:00 a.m. with worries about QAnon and White Supremacy. Sheesh! 

 

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