Living and Sitting Quietly

I've always pretty much been a sedentary person - even when I was younger (and thinner.) As a kid my preference would be to sit and read a book, play games or cards or just watch bugs crawl around in the dirt. I was never one to climb trees and I still have the bike that I got in 1966 - I rode it, but obviously not so much (in my dreams, I am always riding my bike, go figure) that I wore it out.

I wasn't a total slug as I enjoyed baseball, volleyball, hide-n-go-seek and other kid games. I realized in 1967/68 that I wasn't a skier when our family went to Wildcat mountain in NH for one of those "get a free weekend when you check us out" deals. Somehow I had been signed up for ski lessons. It was freezing, I couldn't stay up and when I went down I couldn't get back up. This was all on the bunny hill! What I was good at was sitting on the back of the skis my one and only time down the hill before quitting and going inside. I hated it then and still do.

So I love to sit; whether it's at the computer, reading a book, playing a game, watching TV, playing with Hannibal or doing absolutely nothing - which I have perfected to an art form. Sitting and being quiet is something I wish more people would (or could) do.

Since 1980, other than when I lived at Mr. Cooper's house and the past 8 months I have rarely lived with other people around me. Mr. Cooper, who was 84 when I moved in, was the perfect housemate. Quiet (other than when watching Wheel of Fortune) it was almost like living alone. You all know about the Dimwit and her Idiot boyfriend living above me and the noise that went along with them for 7 months; I used to wonder what she could possibly be doing up there, especially in the middle of the night.

Now, having moved again, I have new people living above me. Chris (who is a carpenter) and his girlfriend Amber (who works at a local university and is studying for her doctorate) seem to be very nice people. They're a young couple with 2 cats. They just moved in last weekend and I'm sure they are still getting settled (I am far from being settled and I've been here 3 weeks longer.) Again, I can't figure out what they could possibly be doing up there; walking around, running water, etc.. The good thing about this house is that there's at least 12-18 inches of space between my ceiling and their floor so no matter what they might be doing, it's off in the distance which suits me just fine. When they do decide to sit and watch TV after unpacking their stuff, I should forget that they are there at all.

Now I think I'm going to go sit on the couch, or maybe the bed... A nap would be nice.