Hey
Finding the Sweet Spot
Before getting settled for a long afternoon nap in the sun, a dog will choose his spot and then slowly circle it a few times... stopping every now and then as if giving it a second thought, "Roh, do I really want to sleep here? Maybe there's too much foot traffic, right here, smack dab in front of this kitchen door... Roh, why can't I ever make up my mind?"
But he'll continue on, thinking it best not to doubt himself. He is used to following orders, after all. He'll circle the spot some more and *just* when you think he's going to finally lay down -- in fact, he is lowering himself to the ground -- he'll pop back up and circle the spot a few more times, maybe even change directions. I imagine the reason he ever lays down at all is that he's tired himself out with all that circling.
Kitties do it, too. They may circle their target napping spot with a bit less dedication than Roofus... actually, it's probably not so much that they're less dedicated, rather, kitties are just more decisive. It doesn't take them as long to make their pea-sized little minds up. Once settled, kitties still have some energy left so they 'knead dough' to wear themselves out.
People do it, too. But not when they're getting into bed -- no, people have the tendency to know what they want when it comes to picking a spot and laying down to sleep. They practically fall into bed or onto the couch, having barely enough energy left to make it there in the first place. There is no circling or kneading needed.
People do it when they are writing. Holding their pen above the surface of the paper, they'll stab at the air a few times, as if they are taking 'practice shots', before actually putting pen to paper to write whatever they are going to write. I've noticed people even do this when they are simply copying information from one sheet to another -- even though there's no necessity of thought required to compose a sentence or to think of a word, they'll still hold their pen in midair, stabbing an invisible victim to death.
I've thought about how much time all this wastes... the circling, the kneading, the stabbing... Why do we (dogs and cats included) do it?
I figure we're all just trying to find the 'sweet spot'. That's what we do. We seek out comfort and the things that will make us most happy in life. Even if that includes award winning penmanship -- I'm speaking on behalf of the pen-stabbers here.
So that's what I'm up to in Bangkok -- trying to find the 'sweet spot'. It seems that time has stopped and the days drag on. I'm getting bored. Maybe it's because Bangkok is too easy, it's too familiar, too 'Western'. Especially in comparison to India, which feels like ancient history. And China seems a million years distant. Bangkok was never even on 'the map' and here we are, going on a week -- the longest place we've stayed still in all of our time on the road.
Of course, it's not necessarily by choice that we've taken temporary residence in Bangkok. We came to receive a package and until having box in hand, we could not make onward arrangements. China is in the throws of a week long Labor Day holiday anyway, and it's not advisable to travel there during this time as it's a busy travel week for the Chinese and things are either fully booked or closed. We were lucky to show up at the China Embassy in New Delhi when we did, at the end of April -- the Visa office is closed from May 1 - May 8 in honor of the holiday! We've even had a hard time finding seats on flights from Bangkok to Beijing, so we figured we'd just leave on the 8th, when things have returned to normal... which gives us several more days to kill in Thailand.
So I'm circling, kneading, and stabbing away... looking for the 'sweet spot' so that my time here in Bangkok amounts to more than what I've been considering it to be, thus far, 'a waste of money'. It's not that we're spending a lot... well, not since the first night in Nana... but it's not a place I've ever wanted to be. It's not that covetous spot in front of the kitchen door that I'd like to settle down in for a while. Like a bumper sticker somewhere in America proclaims, "I'd rather be traveling."
But he'll continue on, thinking it best not to doubt himself. He is used to following orders, after all. He'll circle the spot some more and *just* when you think he's going to finally lay down -- in fact, he is lowering himself to the ground -- he'll pop back up and circle the spot a few more times, maybe even change directions. I imagine the reason he ever lays down at all is that he's tired himself out with all that circling.
Kitties do it, too. They may circle their target napping spot with a bit less dedication than Roofus... actually, it's probably not so much that they're less dedicated, rather, kitties are just more decisive. It doesn't take them as long to make their pea-sized little minds up. Once settled, kitties still have some energy left so they 'knead dough' to wear themselves out.
People do it, too. But not when they're getting into bed -- no, people have the tendency to know what they want when it comes to picking a spot and laying down to sleep. They practically fall into bed or onto the couch, having barely enough energy left to make it there in the first place. There is no circling or kneading needed.
People do it when they are writing. Holding their pen above the surface of the paper, they'll stab at the air a few times, as if they are taking 'practice shots', before actually putting pen to paper to write whatever they are going to write. I've noticed people even do this when they are simply copying information from one sheet to another -- even though there's no necessity of thought required to compose a sentence or to think of a word, they'll still hold their pen in midair, stabbing an invisible victim to death.
I've thought about how much time all this wastes... the circling, the kneading, the stabbing... Why do we (dogs and cats included) do it?
I figure we're all just trying to find the 'sweet spot'. That's what we do. We seek out comfort and the things that will make us most happy in life. Even if that includes award winning penmanship -- I'm speaking on behalf of the pen-stabbers here.
So that's what I'm up to in Bangkok -- trying to find the 'sweet spot'. It seems that time has stopped and the days drag on. I'm getting bored. Maybe it's because Bangkok is too easy, it's too familiar, too 'Western'. Especially in comparison to India, which feels like ancient history. And China seems a million years distant. Bangkok was never even on 'the map' and here we are, going on a week -- the longest place we've stayed still in all of our time on the road.
Of course, it's not necessarily by choice that we've taken temporary residence in Bangkok. We came to receive a package and until having box in hand, we could not make onward arrangements. China is in the throws of a week long Labor Day holiday anyway, and it's not advisable to travel there during this time as it's a busy travel week for the Chinese and things are either fully booked or closed. We were lucky to show up at the China Embassy in New Delhi when we did, at the end of April -- the Visa office is closed from May 1 - May 8 in honor of the holiday! We've even had a hard time finding seats on flights from Bangkok to Beijing, so we figured we'd just leave on the 8th, when things have returned to normal... which gives us several more days to kill in Thailand.
So I'm circling, kneading, and stabbing away... looking for the 'sweet spot' so that my time here in Bangkok amounts to more than what I've been considering it to be, thus far, 'a waste of money'. It's not that we're spending a lot... well, not since the first night in Nana... but it's not a place I've ever wanted to be. It's not that covetous spot in front of the kitchen door that I'd like to settle down in for a while. Like a bumper sticker somewhere in America proclaims, "I'd rather be traveling."
posted by Cheryn at 2:13 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home