My Seat on the Bed

There are days, like today, when I write My Seat on the Beach from my seat on the bed. It is what I call a fibromyalgia smack-down day. I don't know what brought it on. I slept well; nonetheless, I woke up with burning pain throughout my neck, shoulders, back, hips, gluts, and legs. An army must have marched over me during the night...several times. (Or it could have been FuBu.)

I know I need to be still today. When fibro speaks, YaYa has learned to listen...with reverence. The price of inattention is too steep: days of pain, days of insomnia, days of poor coordination, confused thinking, and memory lapses. Even if I rest today, there is no guarantee I will be better able to function tomorrow. But I can guarantee if I ignore my body and push through, I will feel worse...both physically and emotionally tomorrow.

How do I keep myself still and let my body and soul rest? Let me tell you about the view from my seat on the bed. It keeps me thankful despite my discomfort:

I live on the edge of a eucalyptus grove in a condo with a reverse floor plan; that means, my bedroom is downstairs (second floor level) and my living room is upstairs (third floor level). My bed faces the balcony window which faces the trees. Its like living in a tree house, only warmer.

Its very breezy today and the eucalyptus trees are swaying with the sensuousness of my friend Salle as she hulas. The sun shines through the grove highlighting different branches and spaces between the trees as it arches across the sky.


Earlier this morning, I watched squirrels chase each other up, down, and around the thick trunks of the tree in front of me. Someone once told me when you see squirrels chasing each other up and down, the chaser is probably marking his territory for the chasee. However, if they are going around and around, it means the female is leaving her scent to help the male determine if she is fertile. No, I have never been privy to what happens at the end of the chase! But sometimes, one will land on the balcony and eat some of the seeds that have fallen out of the bird feeder.

Let me tell you about the birds because I am aware of them before I even open my eyes. I know Spring has arrived when the grove begins to sound like a jungle again. The call and response of my feathered friends creates a symphony that wakes me up and delights me. Then the squirrels begin their chatter, and before I know it, FuBu is running back and forth on the bed, making her "ack, ack, ack, ack" noise at the commotion outside.

There is a tree right outside the window to the left of my bed. As that tree regrows it leaves, it will soon be dancing from the sparrows singing in its hair. But for today, just one sparrow sits in the crook of two branches and sings for FuBu and me.

 It is the wonder of nature that allows my spirit to rest when my brain is egging me on to get up and take care of business. Its the birds and the trees, the sun and the squirrels that remind me of this scripture: "Be still and know that I am God." (Psalms 46:10.) Before I know it, I am humming the song, "His Eye is on the Sparrow."

And because I am sitting in my seat on the bed, with my laptop, I visit You Tube and find the rendition of the song, sung in the movie: Sister Act 2, by Tanya Blount and Lauryn Hill. (Enjoy and be blessed!)




Amen...and Amen.