Sweet Sleep and Squirrels

Sometimes I love waking up in bed, with the duvet piled around me and my hair still slightly wet from last night's shower. It feels like the most decadent thing in the world.

Last night a squirrel shared my ice cream with me. Jaja and I got great big cones from Ed's Real Scoop, and sat in the park looking out over the beach and the lake to eat them. A squirrel hopped up on the bench beside me and put both its paws on my leg and looked up at me appealingly. So I broke off a bit of my cone and gave it to him. He politely sat the bench with me and nibbled it, and when it was all gone looked up and me again as if to say, "Might I please have some more?" I dropped the next bit my accident, so he ate it while sitting beside my foot. When he was ready for more he would look up with soulful eyes and reach way up with his little tiny hands to grab the next bit I handed down to him. After a while he hopped back up on the bench to sit with us and we all ate out cones companionably looking out over the water. He ate till he was full, said his thank yous, and hopped off into the park and away. Jaja and I walked home with ice cream smears on our clothes and smiles on our faces.

Sweet Scent

"According to a study by the Wheeling Jesuit University, Jasmine has a positive effect on the quality of sleep one gets, decreasing anxiety and improving the attitude one has after waking up. The smell of Jasmine doesn't make you sleep more, instead it makes your sleep time count for more. I guess you could consider it 'high quality' sleep with less moving and disturbance. In addition, studying while smelling Jasmine increased alertness and performance on cognitive tests."
I read this to Rafiki last night and he immediately said, "Bedtime!" :)