Speaker 1: Welcome to season two. I've bedtime stories for grown ups
Speaker 1: in which nothing much happens, you feel good, and then
Speaker 1: you fall asleep. All stories are written and read by me,
Speaker 1: Catherine Nikolay, with audio engineering by Bob Wittersheim. Thank you
Speaker 1: for listening and for sharing our stories with anyone you
Speaker 1: know who likes relaxing and good sleep, and be sure
Speaker 1: to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for some extra coziness. Now,
Speaker 1: let me say a little about how to use this podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm about to tell you a bedtime story, and just
Speaker 1: like the stories you heard when you were little, it's
Speaker 1: meant to ease you into peaceful sleep. I'll tell our
Speaker 1: story twice, and I'll go a bit slower the second time.
Speaker 1: The story is like a cozy nest for your mind,
Speaker 1: a soft place for it to focus on, so that
Speaker 1: the thoughts and the worries of the day can lose
Speaker 1: their grip on you. If you find that you are
Speaker 1: still awake at the end of the first or second telling,
Speaker 1: don't worry. Relax and think your way back through the
Speaker 1: details of the story, especially any parts that seemed sweet
Speaker 1: or comforting. This works even if you wake again in
Speaker 1: the middle of the night. Instead of turning your brain
Speaker 1: back on, go back to what you remember of the story.
Speaker 1: Rest your mind there, and before you know it, you'll
Speaker 1: be waking up tomorrow feeling rested and ready for another day.
Speaker 1: Now it's time to turn down your light and put
Speaker 1: away anything you've been looking at. Snuggle down into your
Speaker 1: favorite sleep position, and send a signal through your system
Speaker 1: that it's time to relax and sleep. Let's take a
Speaker 1: deep breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth.
Speaker 1: Do that one more time, in and out. Our story
Speaker 1: tonight is called in the Library, and it's a story
Speaker 1: about a day spent in the cool, quiet company of books.
Speaker 1: It's also about an early morning cup of coffee, the
Speaker 1: first cool days of autumn, and the excitement of a
Speaker 1: new book in the library. Those first few steps into
Speaker 1: the library always surprise me. I forget when it's been
Speaker 1: a while, how quiet and cool it is, how the
Speaker 1: scent of the books, dusty and sweet, rushes up at
Speaker 1: you as soon as you open the door, and how
Speaker 1: keenly inviting the scent of all those books are. Even
Speaker 1: if I'm just stepping in to return my recent reads,
Speaker 1: I find I can't help but walk through the stacks
Speaker 1: for a few minutes and admire the quiet order of
Speaker 1: the reading rooms. To day, I was here for more
Speaker 1: than just a few minutes, so I took my time.
Speaker 1: It was my day off, and I'd gotten up early
Speaker 1: just to make a cup of coffee and crawl back
Speaker 1: into bed with it. I'd opened the shades in my
Speaker 1: bedroom and lounged with my cup, looking out of the
Speaker 1: changing light for a while. I listened to my kitty
Speaker 1: purring on the blanket beside me. She was lazily looking
Speaker 1: out of the window too, and every now and then
Speaker 1: her tail would flick suddenly, and then, like a wisp
Speaker 1: of smoke from a blown out candle, it would curl
Speaker 1: and slowly settle back to the bed. I wondered what
Speaker 1: made that flick happen? What were her kitty thoughts stirred by?
Speaker 1: I laid a hand on her back and felt the
Speaker 1: soothing thrum of her purr. I smiled to myself as
Speaker 1: I made my plans for the day. We were only
Speaker 1: in the first cool days of autumn, leaves just beginning
Speaker 1: to shift and fall. The nights were getting cold, but
Speaker 1: by midday the sun warmed the air and it was
Speaker 1: comfortable Actually, it was really pleasant to wear a sweater
Speaker 1: and feel the sun on your back and the cool
Speaker 1: air on your face. So I decided to walk to
Speaker 1: town and spend some time in the stacks at my library.
Speaker 1: I slung a bag with a few necessities across my
Speaker 1: body and tied my shoes and stepped out to breathe
Speaker 1: in the mid morning air. I saw a few people
Speaker 1: walking dogs or bringing in groceries as I made my
Speaker 1: way through the neighborhood streets and closer to town. It
Speaker 1: was a little city, really, just a few major streets
Speaker 1: and side alleys, but we had a couple nice cafes,
Speaker 1: an old cinema with a pretty marquis where they always
Speaker 1: showed one old movie along with the new ones, a
Speaker 1: big green park in the center of town, and a
Speaker 1: really good library. I got there just a few minutes
Speaker 1: after they opened, but there were already a few bikes
Speaker 1: parked at the rack, and a steady stream of patrons
Speaker 1: coming and going, some with children hanging from each hand,
Speaker 1: others with serious looking book bags laptops peeking out ready
Speaker 1: to get to work, and some like me, just looking
Speaker 1: to be close to books and curious to see what
Speaker 1: I might find. I slid in through the glass front
Speaker 1: doors and took a moment to look around. I could
Speaker 1: head straight into the stacks or take the scenic rout
Speaker 1: through the children's section. I picked scenic and took a
Speaker 1: few minutes to wander pass the big story books and
Speaker 1: tiny chairs. I smiled at a dad sitting in the
Speaker 1: middle of an aisle with his daughter on his lap
Speaker 1: as he read, and nodded at the librarians as they
Speaker 1: re shelved books and tidied up the desk. In one
Speaker 1: of the main rooms, there were neat rows of tables,
Speaker 1: broad empty workspaces with identical reading lamps, old chairs, and
Speaker 1: waste baskets. I loved the sameness repeating through the space.
Speaker 1: It made me feel calm and focused. I found a
Speaker 1: spot for myself, set my bag down and took a
Speaker 1: thermis of tea and set it out on the desktop.
Speaker 1: Then I looked around at the rows of books and
Speaker 1: started to wander the aisles. I let my eyes move
Speaker 1: over the titles like any reader. I have my favorites,
Speaker 1: but I always browsed in unfamiliar sections. That is one
Speaker 1: of the really exciting things about being surrounded by so
Speaker 1: many books. They are all around you, and you can
Speaker 1: just pull them down and start reading, and you never
Speaker 1: know when or where you will find the one that
Speaker 1: opens you up and makes you wonder or laugh or
Speaker 1: cry or just live differently. After I'd only plan to
Speaker 1: get a book or two, but after an hour of
Speaker 1: browsing and sampling, I had five. I sat for a
Speaker 1: few minutes back at the neat desk, sipping tea and
Speaker 1: skimming pages, deciding which one I would start first. When
Speaker 1: my stomach gave a low warning rumble, I thought about
Speaker 1: staying put a bit longer, but since one of the
Speaker 1: only things more enjoyable than reading a new book is
Speaker 1: reading a new book while you eat a sandwich, I
Speaker 1: decided to check out my armful of fresh picks and
Speaker 1: go in the park. There was a kiosk that sold
Speaker 1: ice cream and coffee and sandwiches and cold drinks. I
Speaker 1: queued up with some office workers on their break and
Speaker 1: waited my turn to order the one with lots of
Speaker 1: pickles on it. Please. They wrapped it up in brown
Speaker 1: paper for me, gave me an apple as well, and
Speaker 1: sent me on my way. I settled on to a
Speaker 1: bench in a quiet corner of the park, unwrapped my
Speaker 1: sandwich and noticed the cool autumn air around me. I've
Speaker 1: always thought that each season had its own best kind
Speaker 1: of leisurely pursuit. Winter was for movies, Spring was for poetry,
Speaker 1: Summer was for music, and autumn autumn was for books.
Speaker 1: I thought about the books I'd checked out. I'd got
Speaker 1: myself book about the cosmos and concepts that I'd always
Speaker 1: wanted to understand but never had, and then a mystery
Speaker 1: set in an English country house, and a memoir and
Speaker 1: a novel that I'd picked up just because I liked
Speaker 1: the cover, and a book about what might have happened
Speaker 1: if lots of things in Earth's history had gone differently.
Speaker 1: I thumbed through the book with a pretty cover. It
Speaker 1: had unexpectedly beautiful illustrations and engravings throughout. I read a bit,
Speaker 1: then shifted to the memoir for a moment, noticing where
Speaker 1: a few pages had been folded over by a previous reader.
Speaker 1: I knew, down deep I was going to go straight
Speaker 1: for that country house mystery and hope that the butler
Speaker 1: hadn't done it. But I had pretended for a few
Speaker 1: more minutes that I might finally read about the multiverses
Speaker 1: and the strength. Then brushing the crumbs off my lap,
Speaker 1: I opened my new book and started to read in
Speaker 1: the library. Those first few steps into the library always
Speaker 1: surprise me, I forget when it's been a while, how
Speaker 1: quiet and cool it is, how the scent of the books,
Speaker 1: dusty and sweet, rushes up at you as soon as
Speaker 1: you open the door, And how keenly inviting the sight
Speaker 1: of all those books are. Even if I'm just stepping
Speaker 1: in to return my recent reads, I find I can't
Speaker 1: help but walk through the stacks for a few minutes
Speaker 1: and admire the quiet order of the reading rooms. To day,
Speaker 1: I was here for more than just a few minutes,
Speaker 1: so I took my time. It was my day off,
Speaker 1: and I'd gotten up early just to make a cup
Speaker 1: of coffee and crawl back into bed with it. I'd
Speaker 1: opened the shades in my bedroom and lounged with my cup,
Speaker 1: looking out at the changing light for a while. I
Speaker 1: listened to my kiddie purring on the blanket beside me.
Speaker 1: She was lazily looking out of the window too, and
Speaker 1: every now and then her tail would flick suddenly, and then,
Speaker 1: like a wisp of smoke from a blown out candle,
Speaker 1: it would curl and slowly settle back to the bed.
Speaker 1: I wondered what made that flick happen? What were her
Speaker 1: kitty thoughts stirred by? I laid a hand on her
Speaker 1: back and felt the soothing thrum of her purr. I
Speaker 1: smiled to myself as I made my plans for the day.
Speaker 1: We were only in the first cool days of autumn,
Speaker 1: leaves just beginning to shift and fall. The nights were
Speaker 1: getting colder, but by midday the sun warmed the air
Speaker 1: and it was comfortable. Actually, it was really pleasant to
Speaker 1: wear a sweater and feel the sun on your back
Speaker 1: and the cool air on your face. So I decided
Speaker 1: to walk to town and spend some time in the
Speaker 1: stacks at my library. I slung a bag with a
Speaker 1: few necessities across my body and tied my shoes and
Speaker 1: stepped out to breathe in the mid morning air. I
Speaker 1: saw a few people walking dogs or bringing groceries as
Speaker 1: I made my way through the neighborhood streets and closer
Speaker 1: to town. It was a little city really, just a
Speaker 1: few major streets and side alleys, but we had a
Speaker 1: couple nice cafes, an old cinema with a pretty marquis
Speaker 1: where they always showed one old movie along with the
Speaker 1: new ones, a big green park in the center of town,
Speaker 1: and a really good library. I got there just a
Speaker 1: few minut after they opened, but there were already a
Speaker 1: few bikes parked at the rack, and a steady stream
Speaker 1: of patrons coming and going, some with children hanging from
Speaker 1: each hand, others with serious looking book bags laptops peeking
Speaker 1: out ready to get to work, and some like me,
Speaker 1: just looking to be close to books and curious to
Speaker 1: see what I might find. I slid in through the
Speaker 1: glass front doors and took a moment to look around.
Speaker 1: I could head straight into the stacks or take the
Speaker 1: scenic rout through the children's section. I picked scenic and
Speaker 1: took a few minutes to wander past the big story
Speaker 1: books and tiny chairs. I smiled at a dad sitting
Speaker 1: in the middle of an aisle with his daughter on
Speaker 1: his lap as he read, and nodded at the librarians
Speaker 1: as they reshelved books and tidied up the desk. In
Speaker 1: one of the main rooms, there were neat rows of tables,
Speaker 1: broad empty workspaces with identical reading lamps, old chairs, and
Speaker 1: waste baskets. I loved the sameness, repeating through the space.
Speaker 1: It made me feel calm and focussed. I found a
Speaker 1: spot for myself, set my bag down and took a
Speaker 1: thermis of tea from it and set it out on
Speaker 1: my desktop. Then I looked around the rows of books
Speaker 1: and started to wander the aisles. I let my eyes
Speaker 1: move over the titles. Like any reader, I have my favorites,
Speaker 1: but I always browsed in unfamiliar sections. That is one
Speaker 1: of the really exciting things about being surrounded by so
Speaker 1: many books. They are all around you and you can
Speaker 1: just pull them down and start reading, and you never
Speaker 1: know when or where you will find the one that
Speaker 1: opens you up and makes you wonder or laugh or
Speaker 1: cry or just live differently. After I'd only plan to
Speaker 1: get a book or two, but after an hour of
Speaker 1: browsing and sampling, I had five. I sat for a
Speaker 1: few minutes back at the neat desks, sipping tea and
Speaker 1: skimming pages, deciding what one I would start first. When
Speaker 1: my stomach gave a low warning rumble, I thought about
Speaker 1: staying put a bit longer, but since one of the
Speaker 1: only things more enjoyable than reading a new book is
Speaker 1: reading a new book while you eat a sandwich, I
Speaker 1: decided to check out my armful of fresh picks and
Speaker 1: go in the park. There was a kiosk that sold
Speaker 1: ice cream and coffee and sandwiches and cold drinks. I
Speaker 1: queued up with some office workers on their break and
Speaker 1: waited my turn to order the one with lots of
Speaker 1: pickles on it. Please. They wrapped it up in brown
Speaker 1: paper for me, gave me an apple as well, and
Speaker 1: sent me on my way. I settled on to a
Speaker 1: bench in a quiet corner of the park, unwrapped my sandwich,
Speaker 1: and noticed the cool autumn air all around me. I've
Speaker 1: always thought that each season had its own best kind
Speaker 1: of leisurely pursuit. Winter was for movies, Spring was for poetry,
Speaker 1: Summer was for music, and autumn autumn was for books.
Speaker 1: I thought about the books I'd checked out. I'd got
Speaker 1: myself a book about the cosmos and concepts that I'd
Speaker 1: always wanted to understand but never had, and a mystery
Speaker 1: set in an English country house, and a memoir, and
Speaker 1: a novel that had picked up just because I'd liked
Speaker 1: the cover, and a book about what might have happened
Speaker 1: if lots of things in Earth's history had gone differently.
Speaker 1: I thumbed through the book. With a pretty cover, it
Speaker 1: had unexpectedly beautiful illustrations and engravings throughout. I read a bit,
Speaker 1: then shifted to the memoir for a moment, noticing where
Speaker 1: a few pages had been foolded over by a previous reader.
Speaker 1: I knew I was going to go straight for the
Speaker 1: country house mystery and hope that the butler hadn't done it,
Speaker 1: but I pretended for a few more minutes that I
Speaker 1: might finally read about the multiverses and the string theories. Then,
Speaker 1: brushing the crumbs off my lap, I opened my new
Speaker 1: book and started to read Sweet Dreams.