Aug 31st, 2024 Saturday Sunny
I am a fairly light sleeper.
As all the light sleepers know, even subtle changes in the environment could affect our sleep quality. I have gone through a few “improve your zzz” training programs and have made resolutions to finish my last meal three hours before, refrain from engaging in cognitively demanding tasks two hours before, and stay away from screen one hour before bed. I also prepared some light reading materials and snacks said to help regulate melatonin in case I do wake up during the night and cannot fall back asleep immediately.
For the most part, my conscious efforts are paying off. I get to enjoy the pleasure of feeling refreshed after being well-rested, on common days. On those few occasions that my sleep habits are disrupted, I cope with them by entering dreamland early the next day.
So what bothered me in my slumber last week? The duvet cover, one that I have been using since college, finally wore out.
And I only realized it in the middle of the night, when my toe poked into a hole in the cover.
“Oh no! If I continue like this, more holes may appear, and the blanket inside will get dirty.” With this thought on my mind, I crawled out begrudgingly, searching for an alternative solution in the closet.
After several attempts (none of the other spare blankets felt right even though we had quite a few – some too light, some too short, and some too warm), I settled with a flannel and another top quilt to provide some weight.
I managed to snooze a bit until daybreak, but I was more restless and ended up stirring very often.
Fully aware that poor sleep likely leads to my being short-tempered and more grumpy, my husband set out to look for a new duvet cover, so as to “revitalize” my beloved (?) blanket and prevent a possible domestic emergency 😛
Fortunately, the type of duvet covers that I like are more common now than when I first came to this country, so there are plenty of options. Eventually an order was placed, and I happily counted the days until I reunited with my own blanket 🙂
Who would have known that the covering that keeps our bodies warm every night would be so important to our well-being?
We overlook it, because we are simply used to it, to the extent that we do not appreciate its value when it faithfully wraps around us, night after night. Even when I noticed the thinning duvet cover earlier this year, finding a replacement soon was mentioned but not attended to, as there were just many other urgent issues we had to deal with. So this was put off, again and again.
Until now.
The new duvet cover arrived and was altered to fit my blanket. The night I finally returned to the embrace of my “bed companion” was a bliss. This time I will learn to cherish it more, for sure.