My South Wales Siesta

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

When I was young child I used to silently mock my parents as they would fall asleep in front of the TV. But looked forward to them doing it as well. It meant I could have more reading time and watch more "adult" programmes on the tele (don't get excited here. It was the seventies so there were only three TV channels with no cheap video recorders on sale).

But now many, many decades later I have the same disease that inflicted my parents much to the mockery of daughter. I would watch something  and slowly would realise that my eyelids were getting heavy and my mind was already lying down in a comfy pillow with fresh sheets around it and that was before what remains of my body decided to join with it's allegedly more intelligent brain.

And the thing is it's not just in the evening. Often I feel this way in the afternoon as well. "Let's watch a film together as a family" says the wife. Only for her and daughter to be disgusted by me for leaving them for the land of nod.

(Mind you she's not adverse to having an unscheduled afternoon nap. Having insisted last year when we were stuck in the apartment because of the snow to watch the film We Bought A Zoo she promptly nodded off after the first half hour. I don't blame her mind you. It was awful)

Recently I've discovered a partial solution to all of this. If you're a Brexiteer close your eyes.

The Southern Europeans were right. If you can take a siesta do it.

Now admittedly this is a sub prime version of what our continental neighbours do. Style consultants would call it a "power nap" but really it's more romantic to call it a pocket siesta. But when I go to work along the A48 on my way to do the afternoon/evening shift I stop off at an isolated layby, set the alarm on my mobile and have the shortened siesta for about half an hour.

I don't sleep at the back or wind the front seat down (it's a Kia picanto folks). I just slouch slightly shut my eyes and I'm gone. Not only am I gone I'm gone quickly as well. The body seems ready for it's afternoon pit stop.

And once I'm awake I do feel energised and ready for what life throws at me, After all these years thinking that siestas were a product of avoiding the midday sun I now realise they were just being generally sensible anyway.

I grow old. I grow old. I wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.....comfortable though.

Until the next time.