Katherine Nicolai
Appearances
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
It dips below the cloudy haze that blocked it for much of the day. And the sky actually gets brighter for a wonderful half hour or so. The orange light cuts through the windows. It will find you where you sit with your cheek propped in your hand listless from the winter monotony and dazzle you make you sit up straight and come to the window and look out
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
You might even put on your coat and boots and step outside and let it shine on your face for a minute or so. And as long as you're out there, well, why not take a brisk walk around the block? Flush your lungs out and fill yourself up with fresh air. These are the bits of winter I forget about through the rest of the year that made me so glad to be in this season as it progressed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
Or just think through any detail that you can remember. Our story tonight is called Winter Views. And it's a story about some different things to enjoy or look forward to in the winter. It's also about a cardinal singing from the branches. a jar of huckleberry jam, and the extra minutes of light that come with each day after the solstice.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
The snow had melted for a few days, and the sidewalks had run with water. The hard ground not able to keep up with how fast things had changed. That first day out, my boots had gotten muddy and sodden, though I barely noticed. I was looking up, spotting nests and abandoned hives in the treetops. A cardinal sat chirping in the branches, and I laughed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
wondering if he ever looked down at us and sang out. Ooh, a human. Fair enough. Few of us could sing like he did. In another day or so, the pavement had dried up, and everyone was out, taking advantage of the break in the weather. Dogs in sweaters, children on the bikes they'd gotten for Christmas or Hanukkah. And I felt that this, too, was something I forgot about when I thought of winter.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
It breeds a sort of fellowship. We were all feeling the same things as we waved from different sides of the street. We all tipped our faces up to the sun and sighed with the relief of it. we'd gained about 30 minutes of daylight since the solstice. And it felt like such a gift at the end of the day. It gave me a bit of a lift just to be able to see out to the pines.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
at the back of my yard for a little longer each day. I often felt that as soon as the sun was down, well, so was I. It made me rush through dinner and often had me yawning and blinking by seven. Now, just to have a little extra time. It inspired me. I slowed down. I thumbed through a cookbook. I watered my plants. I brewed a cup of tea. and sipped it from the sofa.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
Our bodies have clockwork, tuned up to the seasons and the sun, don't they? Those early nights to bed, they'd been needed. The weeks of doing less were restorative. But now, things were turning, subtly and slowly, but surely. And I thought about what I might do with the bit of winter that remained. It wasn't done snowing, that was for sure.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
These breaks in the weather came and went, and we still had plenty of snow days left. There was a skating rink downtown, and I thought, it must be absolutely beautiful to skate in in the warmth of the late afternoon, to stay on the ice as the twinkle lights came on, and then to go somewhere for a hot cocoa after your legs were tired out. And there was a film festival at the movie theater.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
I'd seen it advertised in the paper. On one screen, they were showing the full filmography of some director whose work at the time had been mostly ignored, but seemed prescient and current. and now was appreciated. On another screen, there were short films, some comic, and some serious. And in this category, there were even a few local entries It was a way I'd never spent a Saturday.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
Set everything down and prioritize your own comfort. How do you need to arrange yourself to feel the most relaxed? Whatever you did today, it was enough. Enough has been done. So take those last lingering thoughts. Let them go. They only have the power you give them. Now, slow breath in. And sigh. Again, in through the nose. Out through the mouth.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
All day at the theater, voting on films, seeing things I knew nothing about beforehand. Well, maybe that was what made it an excellent idea. There were also seeds to start. Packs of them had come in the mail the week before. And the garden club, of which I'd become a member last spring, had sent out a newsletter with instructions for making starting pots from recycled newspaper.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
I could see myself clearing off the counters and rolling up my sleeves. I'd make a bit of a mess, and it would no doubt take longer than I anticipated. But eventually, all my little seeds would be tucked into their soil beds. and waiting to sprout under the lamps. This year, I was growing dahlias, but nothing else. Just dahlias.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
But I would crack their code and grow the biggest double blooms the neighborhood had ever seen. What else? What else could I look forward to this winter? Oh, I'd been gifted a membership in the jam of the month club and thought I could make some thumbprint cookies with the first jar that had come. The jam was deep purple. Huckleberry.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
And I bet would go perfectly with a cup of coffee in the morning. Puzzles and old movies. A hike up the crow's nest path in the snow. Watching the sun come up a little earlier each morning. Paper whites budding on the sill. Winter came with so many gifts. A hundred different views over the horizon. It wasn't one thing. It was many. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
Winter isn't just one thing. One feeling. one temperature, one scent. And that was something I always forgot from the distance of July. If I thought of it then, all I could come up with was bitter cold, a memory of icy air stinging my nostrils, one shade of white coating everything.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
And so when I was actually there, moving through midwinter, it was always a sweet surprise when the morning air didn't sting, but instead made me feel awake and alive. And I gulped it down in deep, greedy breaths. just as I had the scent of lilacs in the spring or summer tomato vines.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
Yes, the light was sometimes gray, the days shorter, but there is something special that happens at sunset in the winter that is uplifting and affirming right when you need it most. As the sun drops in the sky, right before it sets fully, it dips below the cloudy haze that blocked it for much of the day, and the sky actually gets brighter for a wonderful half hour or so.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
The orange light cuts through the windows, It will find you where you sit, with your cheek propped in your hand, listless from the winter monotony. And it will dazzle you, make you sit up straight and come to the window and look out. You might even put on your coat and boots and step outside and let it shine on your face for a minute or so.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
And as long as you're out there, why not take a brisk walk around the block? Flush your lungs out and fill yourself up with fresh air. These are the bits of winter I forgot about through the rest of the year that made me glad to be in this season as it progressed. The snow had melted for a few days and the sidewalks had run with water.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location. And since I'm a person... and not a computer, I sometimes sound just slightly different. But the stories are always soothing and family-friendly, and our wishes for you are always deep rest and sweet dreams. Just by listening to my voice and following along with the general shape of the story,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
The hard ground not able to keep up with how fast things had changed. That first day out, my boots had gotten muddy and sodden, though I barely noticed. I was looking up, spotting nests and abandoned hives in the treetops. A cardinal sat chirping in the branches, and I laughed angrily. wondering if he ever looked down at us and sang out, ooh, a human. Fair enough.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
Few of us could sing like he did. In another day or so, the pavement had dried up, and everyone was out, taking advantage of the break in the weather. Dogs in sweaters, children on bikes they'd gotten for Christmas or Hanukkah. And I felt that this, too, was something I forgot about when I thought of winter. It breeds a sort of fellowship.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
We were all feeling the same things as we waved from different sides of the street. We all tipped our faces up to the sun and sighed with the relief of it. We'd gained about 30 minutes of daylight since the solstice, and it felt like such a gift at the end of the day. It gave me a bit of a lift. just to be able to see out to the pines at the back of my yard for a little longer each day.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
I often felt that as soon as the sun went down, well, so was I. It made me rush through dinner and often had me yawning and blinking by seven. Now, just to have a little extra time, it inspired me. I slowed down. I thumbed through a cookbook or watered my plants or brewed a cup of tea and sipped it from the sofa. Our bodies have clockwork, tuned up to the seasons and sun, don't they?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
Those early nights to bed had been needed. The weeks of doing less were restorative. And now things were turning, subtly and slowly, but surely. and I thought about what I might do with the bit of winter that remained. I wasn't done snowing, that was for sure. These breaks in the weather came and went, and we still had plenty of snow days left. There was a skating rink downtown.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
And I thought it must be absolutely beautiful to skate in the warmth of the late afternoon, to stay on the ice as the twinkle lights came on, and to go somewhere for a hot cocoa after your legs were tired out. and there was a film festival at the movie theater. I'd seen it advertised in the paper.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
On one screen, they were showing the full filmography of some director, whose work had been mostly ignored at the time, but seemed prescient and current, and now was appreciated. On another screen, there were short films, some comic and some serious. And in this category, there were even a few local entries. It was a way I never spent a Saturday.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
All day at the theater, voting on films, seeing things I knew nothing about beforehand. Maybe that was what made it an excellent idea. There were also seeds to start. Packs of them had come in the mail the week before. And the garden club, of which I'd become a member last spring, had sent out a newsletter. with instructions for making starting pots from recycled newspaper.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
you'll be able to create a reliable response in your brain and nervous system. So that when you lie in bed at night, when it's time to sleep, you just will. The more you practice it, the stronger the response will become. I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a bit slower the second time through. If you wake again in the night, don't hesitate to turn this or another story right back on.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
I could see myself clearing off the counters and rolling up my sleeves. I'd make a bit of a mess, and it would, no doubt, take longer than I'd anticipated. But eventually, all my little seeds would be tucked into their soil beds and waiting to sprout under the lamps. This year, I was growing dahlias and nothing else. Just dahlias. But I would crack their code.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
and grow the biggest double blooms the neighborhood had ever seen. What else? What else could I look forward to this winter? I'd been gifted a membership in the Jam of the Month Club, and thought I could make some thumbprint cookies with the first jar that had come. It was deep purple, huckleberry, and I bet they would go perfectly with a cup of coffee in the morning. Puzzles and old movies.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
A hike up the crow's nest path in the snow. Watching the sun come up a little earlier each morning. Paper whites budding on the sill. Winter came with so many gifts. A hundred different views over the horizon. It wasn't one thing. It was many. Winter views. Winter isn't just one thing. One feeling. one temperature, one scent. And that was something I always forgot from the distance of July.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
If I thought of it then, all I could come up with was the bitter cold. A memory of icy air stinging my nostrils. One shade of white coating everything. And so, when I was actually there, moving through midwinter, it was always a sweet surprise. when the morning air didn't sting, but instead made me feel awake and alive.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Winter Views (Encore)
I gulped it down in deep, greedy breaths, just as I had the scent of lilacs in the spring or summer tomato vines. Yes, the light was sometimes gray, the days shorter. But there is something special that happens at sunset in the winter that is uplifting and affirming right when you need it most. As the sun drops in the sky, right before it fully sets,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
I care about your sleep. It is always my first thought and priority in making this show. And sometimes you need extra help. Sometimes, even when your sleep hygiene is top tier, sleep doesn't come. Some nights, you might struggle to fall asleep. or wake after a few hours and toss and turn. I get it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
His grandfather smiled down at his broom as he swept. I handed over the money and waited until the change was counted back. I thanked the little boy and resisted the urge to wink or make a joke. I remembered how important it was when you were young and trying to seem grown up that you were taken seriously. We shouldn't forget what being young feels like, even when we are young no longer.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
Try Sleep Breakthrough Drink risk-free with Bioptimizers 365-day money-back guarantee. And this is all in our show notes if you forget. Visit bioptimizers.com slash nothingmuch and use code nothingmuch for 10% off any order. Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Catherine Nicolai.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
On the street again, with Grandma's ladybug on my shoulder and the golden spring light making me squint, I headed for the park. The geese would be back. honking their news and splashing the cold lake water around their long black necks. I would find a bench, take my muffin from my bag, open my paper, and look for things to laugh about. The jewelry box. On my dresser,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
beside the stack of books that are waiting to be read, and the framed photo of my sweetheart and me on one of our first dates. There's a jewelry box. It's made of dark walnut and lined with green velvet. that must have been a bright emerald when it was first fitted into place by my grandfather's hands, but has faded over the years into the soft green of reindeer moss.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
He crafted it many years ago, for my grandmother, out in the workshop in his garage. It was a rare creation for him. He was mostly a fixer, a mender, who could step in when the furnace was on the fritz, or when the attic stairs were stuck. He'd stand with hands on hips and just look at the problem for a while, picturing where the trouble was and how to sort it out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
Then he'd slip a screwdriver from his shirt pocket and go to work. But for this box, he'd been starting from scratch. Not mending, but creating. He'd sketched out the shape with a flat carpenter's pencil onto the pages of a steno notebook in the garage and gone looking for the right piece of wood.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
When he found it, he'd measured and cut and fitted the box together, the edges of the wood dovetailing like puzzle pieces. Then he'd divided the interior with thin slats and lined it all with green velvet. He'd let me watch as he created slots for Grandma's rings, hooks to secure her necklaces, and a soft, raised mound to loop her bracelets around.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
The top tray lifted out to reveal an open space underneath. inlaid with more velvet. The box was meant to be a surprise for her, and he'd asked me if I could keep a secret before he'd let me into the workshop. I'd kept my promise. I'd got to be there on her birthday, as she'd unwrapped it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
I remember how quiet the room was as she ran her soft, creased hands over the smooth edges that he'd spent ages carefully sanding and shaping. She lifted the lid and looked down at the velvet and then up at Grandpa, with such a bright, happy smile on her face, that we all beamed back at her. She was a laugher, not a crier.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
And she laughed now, clapping her hands like a little girl, and leaning over to plant a kiss on Grandpa's cheek. The jewelry box had sat on her vanity table for the rest of her life, next to her tubes of lipstick and tiny precious bottles of perfume. I remember sitting on the edge of her bed, my bare feet swinging, as I watched her make herself up for a Saturday night out with Grandpa.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past. It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location. And since I'm a person... and not a computer.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
She picked out her favorite necklace and lifted the tray out to peruse her brooches. I nosily looked over her shoulder as she did and saw a few yellowed envelopes addressed to her in Grandpa's hand. She saw me looking and winked at me in the mirror. She still had their love letters. When the box came to me, I gratefully found I could still smell a bit of her perfume. whenever I lifted the lid.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
Now it held my rings, my bracelets and necklaces. In the compartment underneath were my own love letters, the stubs of concert tickets, and one of Grandma's brooches. It was fragile, with a thin pin at its back that had been mended more than once. On its face was a collection of bright red stones, circled with gold, in the shape of a ladybug. Her wings were dotted with glossy black jewels.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
I suspected none of them were real gems. They were probably polished glass, what they used to call paste, but they were precious to me. I was careful with what Grandma had passed to me, but I wasn't afraid to wear her brooch. I had her china, too, and used it nearly every day.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
Once, when we'd been drying dishes in her kitchen, and a slippery plate had slid out of my hands to crash into a million pieces on the black and white tiles of her floor, I turned a teary face up to her, and she caught my chin in her hand and kissed the tip of my nose, saying, Baby, it's a thing, not a person. It had made me feel so unashamed and immediately realigned with what actually mattered.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
To this day, when something breaks, I stop and ask myself, is it a thing or a person? And like her, I can usually laugh instead of cry. I pinned her ladybug onto the lapel of my jacket today as I'd gotten ready to go out the door just feeling the need to have her around me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
When I stepped out of my apartment and into the narrow alleys of the oldest part of downtown, I stopped to look up at the way the spring sunlight shone on the tops of the buildings. Autumn sun is brassy in the best possible way, but spring sunlight is bright gold, and I was happy to need my sunglasses as I walked.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
I sometimes sound just slightly different, but the stories are always soothing and family-friendly, and our wishes for you are always deep rest and sweet dreams. Let me say a little about how to use this podcast. Our minds are busy, now maybe more than ever, and a busy mind can keep you up all night. So let this story that I'm about to tell you become a resting place for your mind.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
At the corner shop, I stopped to buy a newspaper and a lemon muffin dotted with poppy seeds to tuck into my bag for later. The man who ran the shop had been sweeping the front step when I came in, and his grandson stood proudly behind the counter, his chin just clearing the stacks of newspapers. He added up my purchases, and with a serious face, told me how much it would be
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
His grandfather smiled down at his broom as he swept. I handed over the money and waited while the change was counted back. I thanked the little boy and resisted the urge to wink or make a joke. I remembered how important it was. when you were young and trying to seem grown up, that you were taken seriously. We shouldn't forget what being young feels like, even when we are young no longer.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
On the street again, with Grandma's ladybug on my shoulder and the golden spring light making me squint, I headed for the park. The geese would be back, honking their news and splashing cold lake water around their long black necks. I would find a bench, take my muffin from my bag, open my paper, and look for things to laugh about. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
Once your mind settles, you will find sleep. I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through. If you wake in the middle of the night, you can listen again or just walk yourself back through any part of the story you remember. This will disrupt the wandering and get you back to sleep. This is brain training, so have a bit of patience if you are new to it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
Over time, you will find you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Our story tonight is called The Jewelry Box, and it's a story about an heirloom handed down through a family. It's also about a jeweled brooch pinned on the lapel of a jacket, spring sunlight, and some good advice for when things break. In the village of Nothing Much, I'm sure they never have to worry about their tap water.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
Unfortunately, like all of you, I live in the real world, and I don't always trust what comes out of my tap. That's why I use AquaTrue purifiers. They use a four-stage reverse osmosis purification process. and their countertop purifiers work with no installation or plumbing.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
When perimenopause hit me like a wrecking ball, it threw my sleep cycles so far off course that I felt like a different person. And sleep breakthrough drink from Bioptimizers has really helped. I fall asleep when I want to, and I sleep through the night without that 3 a.m. panic wake-up that had been haunting me. When I wake in the morning, I feel good, not groggy. I'm rested. My days are better.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
It removes 15 times more contaminants than ordinary pitcher filters, and are specifically designed to combat chemicals like PFAS in your water supply. The filters are affordable and long-lasting. I love this part. My old filter had to be changed every month, and I forgot all the time. But AquaTrue filters last from six months to two years.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
Just one set of filters from their classic purifier makes the equivalent of 4,500 bottles of water. That's less than three cents a bottle. Plus, you'll save the environment from tons of plastic waste. And the water tastes really good. I don't worry about PFAS or harmful contaminants anymore. Today, my listeners receive 20% off any AquaTrue purifier. Just go to AquaTrue.com.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
That's A-Q-U-A-T-R-U dot com and enter code NOTHINGMUCH at checkout. That's 20% off any AquaTrue water purifier. When you go to AquaTrue.com and use promo code N-O-T-H-I-N-G-M-U-C-H. Now, it's time to set down anything you've been looking at or working on. Switch off the light and slide down into your sheets. Pull the blanket over your shoulder and feel how good it is to be safe in your bed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
Let's all take a breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. Nice. One more. In And out. Good. The jewelry box. On my dresser, beside the stack of books that are waiting to be read. And the framed photo of my sweetheart and me on one of our first dates. there's a jewelry box. It's made of dark walnut and lined with green velvet.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
That must have been a bright emerald when it was first fitted into place by my grandfather's hands, but has faded over the years into the soft green of reindeer moss. He crafted it many years ago for my grandmother, out in the workshop in his garage. It was a rare creation for him.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
He was mostly a fixer, a mender, who could step in when the furnace was on the fritz, or when the attic stairs were stuck. He'd stand with hands on hips, and just look at the problem for a while, picturing where the trouble was and how to sort it out. Then he'd slip a screwdriver from his shirt pocket and go to work. But for this box, he'd been starting from scratch, not mending, but creating.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
He'd sketched out the shape with a flat carpenter's pencil onto the pages of a steno notebook in the garage and gone looking for the right piece of wood. When he found it, he'd measured and cut and fitted the box together, the edges of the wood dovetailing like puzzle pieces. Then he divided the interior with thin slats and lined it all with green velvet.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
He'd let me watch as he created slots for grandma's rings, hooks to secure her necklaces, and a soft raised mound to loop her bracelets around. The top tray lifted out to reveal an open space underneath, inlaid with more velvet. The box was meant to be a surprise for her, and he'd asked me if I could keep a secret before he'd let me into the workshop.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
I'd kept my promise and got to be there on her birthday as she unwrapped it. I remember how quiet the room was as she ran her soft, creased hands over the smooth edges that he'd spent ages carefully sanding and shaping. She lifted the lid and looked down at the velvet and then up at Grandpa with such a bright, happy smile on her face. that we all beamed back at her.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
Bioptimizers has flexible dosing, which I really like. My wife needs just a little bit, and I take a little more. And for folks looking for an option without melatonin, this is it. Ready to transform your sleep and wake up feeling refreshed. Visit bioptimizers.com slash nothingmuch and use code nothingmuch for 10% off any order. Don't settle for another restless night, my friends.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
She was a laugher, not a crier. And she laughed now, clapping her hands like a little girl, and leaning over to plant a kiss on Grandpa's cheek. The jewelry box had sat on her vanity table for the rest of her life, next to her tubes of lipstick and tiny precious bottles of perfume.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
I remember sitting on the edge of her bed, my bare feet swinging, as I watched her make herself up for a Saturday night out with Grandpa. She'd picked out her favorite necklace and lifted the tray out to peruse her brooches. I nosily looked over her shoulder as she did and saw a few yellowed envelopes addressed to her and Grandpa's hand. She saw me looking and winked at me in the mirror.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
She still had their love letters. When the box came to me, I'd gratefully found I could still smell a bit of her perfume whenever I lifted the lid. Now it held my rings, my bracelets and necklaces. In the compartment underneath were my own love letters, the stubs of concert tickets, and one of Grandma's brooches. It was fragile, with a thin pin at its back that had been mended more than once.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
On its face was a collection of bright red stones, circled with gold, in the shape of a ladybug. Her wings were dotted with glossy black jewels. I suspected none of them were real gems. They were probably polished glass, what they used to call paste. But they were precious to me. I was careful with what Grandma had passed on to me. But I wasn't afraid to wear her brooch.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
I had her china, too, and used it nearly every day. Once, when we'd been drying dishes in her kitchen, and a slippery plate had slid out of my hands to crash into a million pieces on the black and white tiles of her floor, I turned a teary face up to her, and she caught my chin in her hand and kissed the tip of my nose, saying, Baby, it's a thing, not a person.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
It made me feel so unashamed and immediately realigned with what actually mattered. To this day, when something breaks, I stop and ask myself, is it a thing or a person? And like her, I can usually laugh instead of cry. I'd pinned her ladybug onto the lapel of my jacket today, as I'd gotten ready to go out the door, just feeling the need to have her around me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
When I'd stepped out of my apartment and into the narrow alleys of the oldest part of downtown, I stopped to look up at the way the spring sunlight shone on the tops of the buildings, Autumn sun is brassy, in the best possible way, but spring sunlight is bright gold, and I was happy to need my sunglasses as I walked.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Jewelry Box (Encore)
At the corner shop, I stopped to buy a newspaper and a lemon muffin dotted with poppy seeds to tuck into my bag for later. The man who ran the shop had been sweeping the front steps when I came in, and his grandson stood proudly behind the counter, his chin just clearing the stacks of newspapers. He added up my purchases and with a serious face told me how much it would be.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
If you're listening, you know self-care is vital for overall wellness, but it can be hard to prioritize yourself and ask for what you need. If you're a veteran going through a tough time, there are people who want to listen and help with no pressure or judgment. Dial 988, then press 1. Chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net or text 838255 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
I crossed over to the other side of the stage as the proscenium curtain came down behind me, clicked on a few more blue lights, and stepped into the back hall. Actors were shedding coats in the dressing rooms, and suddenly the mostly empty theater felt full and bustling. Coming the other way, I spotted the stage manager with her clipboard. She looked at her watch and called out, Places in 30.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
Everyone around her responded in a chorus, as we'd been trained to do since our very first shows. Thank you, 30, we sang back. I smiled as I made my way back through the green room toward the house. That call and response had always felt like a particularly well-devised form of communication. Some information is given, and then you respond politely and show that you understood
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
Listen, I know how to breathe to feel better, but still I use Moonbird because when my mind is racing or wandering, I need a little guidance and it makes my deep breathing more effective. So when you wake in the middle of the night, don't reach for your phone, unless it's to restart your bedtime story. That's fine. Reach for Moonbird. Visit moonbird.life slash nothingmuchhappens to save 20%.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
by repeating the most important aspect of it. I tried to make a habit of it when some message came my way, to say thank you and acknowledge the vital missive. Now, here, being part of something I loved, I pushed through the doors, and signaled to the ushers to open the house. I thought, thank you, opening night. Opening night. We had a few hours yet, and most everything was done.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
The costumes were hanging in the dressing rooms. The lights were set, and hopefully the cast was ready. I carried an armful of programs to a table at the back of the auditorium and had a seat. The programs needed to be folded. Each was just a few sheets. We weren't on Broadway here, just a small playhouse, a community theater that did four or five shows a year.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
I laid the stack of papers out in front of me and started to put them together, lining up the sheets and clapping the edges of the pages against the table to even them out, then finding the middle seam and creasing it tightly with my thumbnail. and tucking the finished version in a box for our ushers to reach into later tonight. I liked having the empty theater to myself.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
I wasn't going to be treading the boards tonight. I was just helping wherever I was needed. a sort of gopher for the stage manager and the director and any cast member who suddenly couldn't find their props or lost a shoe. Still, the space had a kind of magic to it. The empty seats looked expectant in the low light and I thought about the very first time I saw a play.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
My mother had taken me, and I might have been in second or third grade. I know the play well now. In fact, I've been in it twice since. but most of it had gone over my head that first night. The thing that had certainly registered was the electric feeling of watching live theater. I just couldn't believe how it felt. how it looked, how different it was from a movie or show on TV.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
I remembered being mesmerized by being able to see the lead actress blink and breathe. I was close enough to hear every step and sound the cast made. I carried the box of ready programs over to a tiny alcove beside the door and set them in there, ready for showtime, then walked through the aisles of seats to the third or fourth row and scooted along to the middle seat.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
We've got it linked in our show notes. Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone. in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Catherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
I pressed the seat down behind me and sat. This might be the very spot I'd sat in for that first show. I leaned back and looked up at the ceiling. It was high and dark and I could just make out some of the light fixtures that, in a couple of hours, would flood the stage and make the people sitting in these seats forget for a while about anything besides what they saw before them.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
I pushed up from the chair and headed down the row to the aisle. I walked to the back of the house, glancing through the rows as I went, to see that all was clean and ready for our audience. And it was. I checked my watch. The cast would be here in a bit to start warming up and getting into costume. And I took a side door into the green room to see that it was ready.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
We always laid out a table of snacks and drinks, along with a bouquet of flowers for the cast and crew on opening night. And I fussed with the roses for a few moments. so that they showed well in their vase. I took a stack of napkins from a drawer and laid it out next to the crackers and nuts. The green room has a different energy from the house and certainly from the stage.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
It feels anticipatory back here, excited but muted. I kept up my tour and next went to check the dressing rooms. I flicked on the switch by the door and the big bulbs ringing each mirror lit up. The counters were clear and clean, and I set out a couple of boxes of tissues here and there. I twisted the knob for the speaker above the door.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
That let actors hear what was happening on stage, so they wouldn't miss their cues. and I could make out a few voices and pacing feet. That must be the stage manager and crew getting things ready. Down the hall, I pushed through the heavy stage door and stepped into the wings and backstage space. It was dark. Tall, thick curtains at the edges of stage right and left kept it that way.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
I walked past the light booth and exchanged a wave with the technician inside. Over the prop table, I clicked on a lamp clamped to the wall. It was fitted with a blue light bulb that would give our actors enough illumination to pick up what they needed but wouldn't be visible to the audience. We'd covered the table with a piece of white butcher's paper
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
and outlined each prop in marker, with its description written alongside. That way, when we checked the table, as I did now, we could see right away that everything was accounted for. There was the locket, for the last scene in Act One. The newspaper that would get carried out at the top of Act Two.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
The handkerchief that would be dropped and picked up and lead to the reveal near the end of the show. I could hear the cast coming in through the hall, dropping off their bags and chatting in the green room. I snuck closer to the edge of the stage and peered out across it and into the audience.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location. And since I'm a person... And not a computer. I sometimes sound just slightly different. But the stories are always soothing and family-friendly. And our wishes for you are always deep rest and sweet dreams. Now, I have a story to tell you. It's a soft place to rest your mind.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
There was so much residual, excited energy stored up in these old wood floors that just standing there made me shiver with the thrill of being about to make an entrance. I took a breath. as if I were really preparing for such a thing, then stepped out and crossed to center stage. There are things that might stir us up so much, push us past what we thought we were capable of.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
and even frighten us a bit, but also make us feel so vibrantly connected to each coming moment that we know we'll do them again and again. And standing on stage reminded me that I'd keep doing this. The ushers were gathering and soon we'd be opening the house and welcoming our audience. I crossed over to the other side of the stage as the proscenium curtain
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
came down behind me, clicked on a few more blue lights, and stepped into the back hall. Actors were shedding coats in the dressing rooms, and suddenly the mostly empty theater felt full and bustling. Coming the other way, I spotted the stage manager with her clipboard. She looked at her watch and called out, places in 30. Everyone around her
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
responded in a chorus, as we'd been trained to do since our very first shows. Thank you, 30, we sang back. I smiled as I made my way back through the green room toward the house. That call and response had always felt like a particularly well-devised form of communication. Some information is given and then you respond politely and show that you understood by repeating
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
the most important aspect of it. I tried to make a habit of it when some message came my way to say thank you and acknowledge the vital missive. Now, here, being part of something I love, As I pushed through the doors and signaled to the ushers to open the house, I thought, thank you, opening night. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
And I think it works best if you imagine yourself in it. So as you listen and follow along with the sound of my voice, pull the details of it around you like a blanket. And before you know it, you'll be in deep, restorative sleep. I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
If you wake in the middle of the night, you could listen again, or just pull those details back into your mind. Think through any part of the story that you can remember, and you'll drop right back off. Our story tonight is called Opening Night, and it's a story about the moments before the curtain rises.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
It's also about flowers in the green room, the electric feeling of stepping out from the wings, and an armful of programs waiting to be passed out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
Responders are ready to support you, no matter what you're going through. I was a full-time yoga teacher for over 20 years, and I know the power of intentional breathing. It's why our two deep breaths have been part of our bedtime routine since episode one. And that's why I want to introduce you to Moonbird.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
Turn off your light. Set everything down. Get as comfortable as you can. You have done enough for today. Truly, it is enough. Take a deep breath in through your nose. And out through your mouth. Again, slow in. And with sound out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
We had a few hours yet. And most everything was done. The costumes were hanging in the dressing rooms. The lights were set. and hopefully the cast was ready. I carried an armful of programs to a table at the back of the auditorium and had a seat. The programs needed to be folded. Each was just a few sheets. We weren't on Broadway here, just a small playhouse, a community theater.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
that did four or five shows a year. I laid the stack of papers out in front of me and started to put them together, lining up the sheets and clapping the edges of the pages against the table to even them out, then finding the middle seam and creasing it tightly with my thumbnail, and tucking the finished version in a box for our ushers to reach into later tonight.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
I liked having the empty theater to myself. I wasn't going to be treading the boards tonight. I was just helping wherever I was needed. A sort of gopher for the stage manager or the director, and any cast member who suddenly couldn't find their props or lost a shoe. Still, the space had a kind of magic to it. The empty seats looked expectant in the low light.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
And I thought about the very first time I saw a play. My mother had taken me when I might have been in second or third grade. I know the play well now. In fact, I've been in it twice since. but most of it had gone over my head that first night. The thing that had certainly registered was the electric feeling of watching live theater.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
I just couldn't believe how it felt, how it looked, how different it was from a movie or show on TV. I remembered being mesmerized by being able to see the lead actress blink and breathe. I was close enough to hear every step and sound the cast made.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
I carried the box of ready programs over to a tiny alcove beside the door and set them in there, ready for showtime, then walked through the aisles of seats to the third or fourth row and scooted along to the middle seat. I pressed the seat down behind me and sat. This might be the very spot I'd sat in for that first show. I leaned back and looked up at the ceiling.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
Moonbird is a handheld breathing device designed to comfortably fit in the palm of your hand. When you shake it, it will start inflating and deflating. So in your hand, it will feel like you're holding a little bird that is breathing in and out. The only thing you need to do is breathe along with it. When Moonbird inflates, you breathe in When Moonbird deflates, you breathe out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
It was high and dark, and I could just make out some of the light fixtures that, in a couple of hours, would flood the stage. and make the people sitting in these seats forget for a while about anything besides what they saw before them. I pushed up from the chair and headed down the row to the aisle. I walked to the back of the house, glancing through the rows as I went.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
to see that all was clean and ready for our audience. And it was. I checked my watch. The cast would be here in a bit to start warming up and getting into costume. And I took a side door into the green room to see that it was ready. We always laid out a table of snacks and drinks, along with a bouquet of flowers for the cast and crew on opening night.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
And I fussed with the roses for a few moments so that they showed well in their vase. I took a stack of napkins from a drawer and laid it out next to the crackers and nuts. The green room has a different energy from the house and certainly from the stage. It feels anticipatory, excited, but muted. I kept up my tour and next went to check the dressing rooms.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
I flicked on the switch by the door and the big bulbs ringing each mirror lit up. The counters were clear and clean and I set out a couple boxes of tissues here and there. I twisted the knob on the speaker above the door. that let actors hear what was happening on stage so they wouldn't miss their cues and could make out a few voices and pacing feet.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
That must be the stage manager and crew getting things ready. Down the hall, I pushed through the heavy stage door and stepped into the wings and backstage space. It was dark. Tall, thick curtains at the edges of stage right and left kept it that way. I walked past the light booth and exchanged a wave with the technician inside. Over the prop table, I clicked on a lamp clamped to the wall.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
It was fitted with a blue light bulb that would give our actors enough illumination to pick up what they needed, but wouldn't be visible to the audience. We'd covered the table with a piece of white butcher's paper. and outlined each prop in marker, with its description written alongside. That way, when we checked the table, as I did now, we could see right away that everything was accounted for.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
There was the locket for the last scene of Act One, the newspaper that would get carried out at the top of Act Two, the handkerchief that would be dropped and picked up and lead to the reveal near the end of the show. I could hear the cast coming in through the hall, dropping off their bags and chatting in the green room,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
I snuck closer to the edge of the stage and peered out across it and into the audience. There was so much residual, excited energy stored up in these old wood floors that just standing there made me shiver with the thrill of being about to make an entrance. I took a breath, as if I were really preparing for such a thing, then stepped out and crossed to center stage.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
Simple, intuitive, it takes all the effort and thinking out of your breathing exercises. It's the perfect companion to your bedtime ritual. Or use it when you're meditating, when you're stuck in traffic, anytime you need an assist in feeling calm and focused.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Opening Night (Encore)
There are things that might stir us up so much, push us past what we thought we were capable of, and even frighten us a bit, but also make us feel so vibrantly connected to each coming moment. that we know we'll do them again and again. Standing on stage reminded me that I'd keep doing this. The ushers were gathering and soon we'd be opening the house and welcoming our audience.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
a single frame of their life while my own blazed past.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
This sleep training will improve with time, so give yourself a few weeks of regular use to really get the hang of it. Our story tonight is called The Sleeper Car, and it's a story about a trip where the mode of travel is more important than the destination.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
Compared to driving, following directions, watching for traffic and road closures, this was positively meditative.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
And since the mode of travel meant more to us than the destination itself, it had proved worth it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
I'd never been in such a cozy, well-thought-out space as this little room. It was engineered for comfort and to fit well within the limited space and also with a bit of nostalgia in mind.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
I'd seen elegant train travel in black and white movies, and read about it in books, but never lived it. And now that I was here, I found it lived up to every expectation, and then some.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
It's also about crisp, ironed linens, a little notebook that fits perfectly into your pocket, the mystery of strangers across the dining car, and waking up to a snowy sunrise. Now, get as comfortable as you can. Lights out. Maybe a sleep mask or a teddy bear. Or just the right pillow in the right spot. And then let your whole body relax. Whatever today was like is what today was like.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
I felt like I had fallen through the pages of a book, that I might slide open the door of the compartment and find a detective twisting his mustache.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
The walk from the sleeper car down to the dining car passed through a few others. Generally, they were just passenger coaches, lined with seats. But one was a sort of lounge, with sofas and cocktail tables.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
I'm writing a mystery novel. And those two, I tilted my head toward the chess players behind us.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
I asked over my glass. That's what they want you to think. Probably planning a heist of the jewels in the train safe.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
And now we're here. And it's okay to let go. Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose. And sigh from your mouth. One more time. Breathe in. Out with sound.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
Thinking about how sweet it would be to pull on my pajamas and climb up into the big, soft bed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
I set my notebook beside the bed, thinking that I might dream up a whole new story overnight and wake to find myself in a new world.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
We'd just cut through a small city, and I could still make out a few buildings in the distance. I loved passing through towns. watching cars waiting at the crossings, catching a glimpse of people walking on the city streets with bags slung over their arms, caught up in their own routines.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
It reminded me that we were all our own main characters, and I found myself charmed by the faces I saw and the stories that might go with them. I was still thinking about the last town, the flash of their city square as we sped through, their tree still lit, and the ice rink in front of it swirling with skaters as the sun began to sink lower and an orange glow fell on my face.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
I thought I might be bored, but bored was the last thing I was. I was relaxed, though. Compared to driving, following directions, watching for traffic and road closures, this was positively meditative. The scenery was always changing, though the pace was steady.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location. And since I'm a person... and not a computer. I sometimes sound just slightly different, but the stories are always soothing and family-friendly, and our wishes for you are always deep rest and sweet dreams. Now, I have a story to tell you.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
I'd never been in such a cozy, well thought out space as this little room.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
This was nostalgia for something I'd never actually had or known. I'd seen elegant train travel in black and white movies and read about it in books, but never lived it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
The pastries that had come with our coffee this morning were delicate and filled with the best apricot preserves I'd ever tasted.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
and find a detective twisting his mustache and eyeing a mysterious heiress who was traveling under a false name.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
My imagination was clearly running away with me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
Generally, they were just passenger coaches lined with seats, but one was a sort of lounge with sofas and cocktail tables.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
And those two? I tilted my head toward the chess players behind us.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
The sun was still an inch above the horizon and the fields around us were layered with snow.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
And I imagined us sitting on a bookshelf in a library somewhere, freshly shaken as the train circled and circled the same small bit of track.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
It's a soft place to rest your mind, and just by listening, you'll be training your brain to settle and to sleep. I'll tell the story twice, a little slower the second time through. If you wake again in the night, you can turn a story right back on, or sometimes it's enough just to think through any part of it that you can remember.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
The tables were laid with white tablecloths edged in dark green.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
We were led to a table at the far end of the car, where we could see all of our fellow passengers, perfect for my research.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
Hmm, that's what they want you to think.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Sleeper Car (Encore)
I set my notebook beside the bed, thinking that I might dream up a whole new story overnight and wake to find myself in a new world.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
I guess in some ways it didn't really matter. I could find ways to enjoy whatever came. Out like a lamb, March is wild and ever-changing. Sweet, mild spring, one hour. A howling gale of snow and ice the next. I liked her unpredictability. How unapologetic she was. when she turned on a dime and changed herself completely in an afternoon.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through. If you wake in the night and feel your brain start to kick back on, don't hesitate to start the story again. The effects of this conditioning will improve with practice, so be patient if you're new to it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
I'd heard once that each person is a string of DNA that would take over a century to recite. So I imagine that if we feel complicated at times, like we hold zones of temperate and inclement weather within ourselves, that they sometimes overlap and emerge on their own schedule. Well, that adds up. The morning had come in like a lion.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
When I'd pushed aside the curtains in my bedroom, I'd found a few inches of fresh snow spread over the yard, and more falling fast behind it. The winter aconite. with its tiny yellow flowers that had appeared a week before around the roots of pine trees, were covered with white. And while they had been beautiful, I had to admit that this snowfall was as well. It slowed me down
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
In a real, literal way, I stopped, breathed, spent time just looking. I'd had a plan in the back of my mind. To dress and head into town. To spend the morning running errands. but suddenly none of that sounded pressing or appealing. And if the roads were slick, it seemed a silly risk to take in order to return some library books and stand in line at the post office.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
No, I should stay tucked in at home. bundle up and enjoy watching the snow come down. It hadn't really taken much time to convince myself of this. I was still standing in front of the window with the curtain in my hand. A gust of wind blew a thick wave of flakes against the panes, when I could feel the chill of it on my skin. I could get back into bed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
That was always a lovely option, but I thought about another one that I rarely took but would feel so good right now. A morning bath. Oh, a morning bath. It sets the perfect tone for a day when you don't have to rush off to anything. It says, today we are going slow. I stepped into the bathroom and opened the tap over the tub. In the cabinet, I looked through the bottles and jars.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
Our story tonight is called Out Like a Lamb, and it's a story about the changeable month of March and a day spent enjoying a bit of both winter and spring. It's also about a book read in the bath, the luxury of a slow start to the day, sunlight warming the floorboards, a pot of pansies dusted with snow, and making peace with a bit of chaos inside and out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
I had some Epsom salts, good for soaking when my body was achy, as well as a jar a friend had gifted me with rose petals, grains of lavender mixed into the salts. It smelled wonderful, but last time I'd used it, I'd been picking the lavender out of my hair for a few days. Instead, I reached for a bottle of pearly bubble bath and trickled a stream of it into the steaming water.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
As the tub filled, I got a fresh towel and washcloth from the linen closet, my book from the bedside table, and a tall glass of water from the kitchen. It's strange what feels indulgent to you at different stages in your life. When I was younger, it wouldn't have been staying home to take a bath on a Saturday morning. But here I was.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
Maybe it is a gift of aging, a growing understanding of what was enough. and a capacity to enjoy it when you have it. In that first minute in the hot water, my mind went peacefully quiet. I wasn't thinking much of anything, just feeling the heat and the relaxation in my muscles. I stretched out in the tub and closed my eyes. I could hear the wind blowing around the house.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
And I thought about the squirrels and rabbits digging deeper into their dens, curling around one another for warmth. I picked up my book and read. When the water started to feel a little cool, I just turned the hot tap back on and let it run till it was piping again. I sipped water, soaked up my washcloth, and scrubbed. and eventually felt ready to get out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
As I reached for my giant bath towel and wrapped it around me, I had a memory of being helped out of the tub as a child, being wrapped in a warm towel, and how safe and happy it had made me feel. I smiled at myself in the steamy mirror. I'd taken over that job of being the steward of my own happiness and safety.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
And while I hadn't been very good at it at the beginning, it had taken practice and unlearning some things along the way. I was now adept. I protected me. I was safe with me. I was happy with me. I pulled on a robe and stepped back into the bedroom to peer out of the window. To my surprise, the sun was shining. and the wind had dropped to nothing.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
The trees stood still, dripping in the sunlight, and the sidewalks were already free of snow. I cracked the window and leaned down to the sill to breathe in the air. It wasn't warm, exactly, but I thought I could smell the sunlight in it, and it was inviting. As I dressed and combed my hair, the sunlight grew brighter, cutting into my rooms and warming my wood floors with its rays.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
By the time I was pulling on my shoes and thinking about an early lunch, all the morning snow was gone. And when I opened up my front door, birdsong rang from the treetops in my yard. I chuckled at March and her changeable ways. zipped up my jacket, and set out in search of something tasty. I'd been so ready to spend the day curled up at home, but now I wanted to be out in the world.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
If we can make the things that are good for us more of a treat and less of a chore, it makes adopting healthy habits a lot easier. This, as you may have guessed, is a big part of our philosophy. We want to make solid sleep something you look forward to. And it's the same for Beam.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
enjoying the warmth till March took another left turn. There was a cafe on the corner built into a little brick building, and their pots of pansies were still dusted with snow as I walked up and pulled open their door. They made excellent sandwiches and soups, and there were always a few empty tables and booths to slide into.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
I found one near the front window and sat down, unzipping my jacket and feeling the sunshine on my face. On special, they had a roasted cauliflower sandwich with avocado and tahini sauce, served on marble rye with house-made chips and ginger ice tea. It had my name all over it, and after I ordered it, I sat back, watched people walking on the street.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
By tonight, the winter could be back in full force, icy with fresh snow, or we may be headed into a few days of sun and warmth. I guess in some ways, it didn't really matter. I could find ways to enjoy whatever came. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
Their delicious Dream Powder, vanilla chai is my personal favorite, is tested for high-quality efficacy and formulated to ease your body into rest, supporting all four stages of the sleep cycle to help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer. Beam Dream Powder. Make sleep delicious. Smart thinking.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
If you want to try Beam's best-selling dream powder, get up to 40% off for a limited time when you go to shopbeam.com slash nothingmuch and use code nothingmuch at checkout. We've got this down in our show notes, if you forget. That's shopbeam.com slash nothingmuch and use code nothingmuch for up to 40% off. Now, switch off your light and slide down into your sheets.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
Anything that feels good in this moment, please notice it. Please let it sink in. You are in your bed. You are about to have a great night's sleep. And when you wake tomorrow, you'll feel rested and ready. Let's take a deep breath in through the nose and sigh from your mouth. Do that one more time. Inhale and let it out. Good. out like a lamb. March is wild and ever-changing.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
Sweet, mild spring one hour, a howling gale of snow and ice the next. I liked her unpredictability. how unapologetic she was when she turned on a dime and changed herself completely in an afternoon. I'd heard once that each person is a string of DNA that would take over a century to recite.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
So I imagine that if we feel complicated at times, like we hold zones of temperate and inclement weather within ourselves, that they sometimes overlap and emerge on their own schedule. Well, that adds up. The morning had come in like a lion, when I'd pushed aside the curtains in my bedroom. I'd found a few inches of fresh snow spread over the yard, and more falling fast behind it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location. And since I'm a person... And not a computer. I sometimes sound just slightly different. But the stories are always soothing and family-friendly. And our wishes for you are always deep rest and sweet dreams. Now, I have a story to tell you. It is sort of like a lullaby.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
The winter aconite, with its tiny yellow flowers that had appeared a week before, around the roots of the pine trees, were covered with white, While they had been beautiful, I had to admit this snowfall was as well. It slowed me down. In a real, literal way, I stopped and breathed, spent time just looking. I'd had a plan in the back of my mind to dress and head into town.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
to spend the morning running errands. But suddenly, none of that sounded pressing or appealing. And if the roads were slick, it seemed a silly risk to take in order to return some library books and stand in line at the post office. No, I should stay tucked in at home, bundle up and enjoy watching the snow come down. It hadn't really taken much time to convince myself of this.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
I was still standing in front of the window with the curtain in my hand. A gust of wind blew a thick wave of flakes against the panes, and I could feel the chill of it on my skin. I could get back into bed. That was always a lovely option. But I thought about another that I rarely took. but would feel so good right now. A morning bath. Oh, a morning bath.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
It sets the perfect tone for a day when you don't have to rush off to anything. It says, today we are going slow. I stepped into the bathroom and opened the tap over the tub. In the cabinet, I looked through the bottles and jars. I had some Epsom salts, good for soaking when my body was achy. As well as a jar a friend had gifted me with rose petals. and grains of lavender mixed into the salts.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
It smelled wonderful, but last time I used it, I'd been picking the lavender out of my hair for a few days. Instead, I reached for the bottle of pearly bubble bath and trickled a stream of it into the steaming water. As the tub filled, I got a fresh towel and washcloth from the linen closet, my book from the bedside table, and a tall glass of water from the kitchen.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
It's strange what feels indulgent to you at different stages in your life. When I was younger, I wouldn't have been staying home to take a bath on a Saturday morning. But here I was. Maybe it is a gift of aging. A growing understanding of what is enough. And a capacity to enjoy it when you have it. In that first minute in the hot water, my mind went peacefully quiet.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
I wasn't thinking much of anything, just feeling the heat and the relaxation in my muscles. I stretched out in the tub and closed my eyes, I could hear the wind blowing around the house. And I thought about the squirrels and rabbits digging deeper into their dens, curling around one another for warmth. I picked up my book and read. When the water started to feel a little cool,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
I just turned the hot tap back on and let it run till it was piping again. I sipped water, soaked up my washcloth and scrubbed, and eventually felt ready to get out. As I reached for my giant bath towel and wrapped it around me, I had a memory of being helped out of the tub as a child. Being wrapped in a warm towel and how safe and happy it had made me feel.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
And if you let it, it will rock your thinking mind to sleep. The story is simple. Not much happens in it. And that is the idea. Just by listening, we'll be able to shift some activity in your brain. From the static background noise of your default mode to the soothing focus of task positive mode. and that's where sleep can happen.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
I smiled at myself in the steamy mirror. I'd taken over that job. of being the steward of my own happiness and safety. And while I hadn't been very good at it at the beginning, it had taken practice and unlearning some things along the way, I was now adept. I protected me. I was safe with me. I was happy with me. I pulled on a robe and stepped back into the bedroom to peer out of the window.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
To my surprise, the sun was shining and the wind had dropped to nothing. The trees stood still, dripping in the sunlight, and the sidewalks were already free of snow. I cracked the window and leaned down to the sill to breathe in the air. It wasn't warm exactly, but I thought I could smell the sunlight in it, and it was inviting.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
As I dressed and combed my hair, the sunlight grew brighter, cutting into my rooms and warming my wood floors with its rays. By the time I was pulling on my shoes and thinking about an early lunch, all the morning snow was gone. And when I opened up my front door, birdsong rang from the treetops in my yard.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
I chuckled at March and her changeable ways, zipped up my jacket, and set out in search of something tasty. I'd been so ready to spend the day curled up at home, but Now I wanted to be out in the world, enjoying the warmth, till March took another left turn.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
There was a café on the corner, built into a little brick building, and their pots of pansies were still dusted with snow as I walked up and pulled open their door. They made excellent sandwiches and soup, and there were always a few empty tables and booths to slide into. I found one near the front window and sat down, unzipping my jacket, letting the sun shine on my face.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Out Like a Lamb (Encore)
On special, they had a roasted cauliflower sandwich with avocado and tahini sauce served on toasted marble rye with house-made chips and ginger ice tea. It had my name all over it. And after I ordered it, I sat back and watched people walking out on the street. By tonight, The winter could be back in full force, icy with fresh snow, or we may be headed into a few days of sun and warmth.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
And that matched my needs perfectly today. Once I'd decided that today was a day for retreat, I'd taken my nearly full journal from my drawer and my pen and my blanket and went to the window seat that looked down into the small, sloping valley at the edge of my backyard.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
In the summer, when I would sit here with the window open and let the birdsong and the warm breeze in, I could imagine myself in a treehouse. as all I could see were layers and layers of leaves. These were old trees. Their toes dug deep into the rich, low land, and their tops level with my window. Now I looked out at their bare branches, spread like reaching fingers across the sky.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
Nests from last summer were suddenly visible as dark clumps in the joints of those fingers. And I wondered where their former residents were at this moment. Spreading their wings in bright sunlight, splashing in a friendly birdbath in a southerly backyard, or sleeping with a wing tucked over a head in a new nest somewhere warm.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
We get better at what we do habitually, so be patient if you are new to this. Your sleep will improve with time and practice. Our story tonight is called All Day at Home, and it's a story about tucking yourself away from the world for a bit It's also about watching winter from a window seat, red pepper flakes from the Italian coast, and the joy of minding one's own business.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
I spent a while sitting there, writing in my journal, and looking out the window, I wrote about small things from the week, some that I wanted to remember, and some that I was ready to forget. And putting them down on the paper helped me to do that. It gave them a place to live that wasn't my head. Eventually, I set the book aside and I pulled the blanket closer around me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
Sometimes, from this spot, I could see deer browsing through the trunks of the trees, dipping their heads and nosing the snow aside from a mouthful of berries. But today, all was still. Everyone was staying home. Eventually, I slipped my feet back into my slippers and padded down into the kitchen. It was a bit past lunchtime, nearly two in fact.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
And that made me think of the Italian way of eating a good sized meal at this time of the day. Something that would stay with you and nourish you for a good long while. I went to my cupboard and pulled down a jar of green lentils. a tiny can of tomato paste, and a box of pasta. Pasta con lenticchio today. A comforting pasta soup that was simple to make and delicious and satisfying.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
I tipped the lentils into a colander to rinse them. And as they ran over my fingers, I had a sudden memory of being very young. Maybe four years old. In a classroom. With a paint-smeared smock tied around me. There were bins of rice and grains, and we could dip our tiny hands into them and feel the tickle over our skin as all the kernels and seeds collided.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
I remembered that I had liked the way it felt and had happily stayed there. just sliding my hands through the bins and quietly humming to myself. I supposed I hadn't changed that much in the years since. I still liked the pleasure of my own company and could easily entertain myself with simple, enjoyable things. I took a small pot from a shelf and set it on the stove.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
I measured in water and olive oil, a clove of garlic, and a spoonful of tomato paste. I added the rinsed lentils and turned on the hob. As the water warmed and came to a boil, the smell of the tomato and garlic filled my little kitchen. I turned it a bit lower and let it simmer away for a bit to let the lentils soften. I liked a small pasta noodle for this, like titali, which are short tubes
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
and whose name meant thimble. I liked that. Thimble soup on a cold day. The broth had become a bit thicker as the lentils cooked, and was a rich, reddish brown. I tipped in the pasta and gave it a stir. As it cooked, I set a place for myself at the table. A glass of mineral water, a napkin, salt and pepper, and a tiny dish of red pepper flakes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
I was rationing them and had been doling them out in tiny increments for a while now. You can buy them anywhere, but these particular peperoncini had been bought in a little shop in Maori by a friend and therefore had a special flavor that probably had more to do with sentiment than taste buds. I imagined her on her summer vacation
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
with a floppy hat and giant sunglasses, stepping out of the bright Mediterranean sun into a shop with packets of spices strung on a hook by the door, remembering how much I like to add these to my soups and sauces, and taking one down for me. When the pasta was cooked, I ladled it out into a bowl and carried it to my place. I pinched a few flakes of pepper in and stirred it through.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
If you're listening, you know self-care is vital for overall wellness, but it can be hard to prioritize yourself and ask for what you need. If you're a veteran going through a tough time, there are people who want to listen and help with no pressure or judgment. Dial 988, then press 1. Chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net or text 838255 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
The lentils had nearly dissolved. and the surface of the broth was speckled with olive oil. The clove of garlic had gone soft and sweet as it cooked, and I spooned it into my first bite with a few pasta thimbles and a good bit of the tomato stock. The day this meal, the time at the window with my book and pen. They were restoring me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
It's easy these days to feel like you are under the microscope, over-examined or scrutinized. And then to feel Like you need a bit of time to be invisible to the rest of the world. And with a lot of care and tenderness to simply mind your own business. That's what I would continue to do today. Tend to myself. and let the world revolve without me for a bit. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
Responders are ready to support you, no matter what you're going through. Now it's time to turn off the light. Take one last sip of water and snuggle down into your favorite sleeping position. Get your pillow in the perfect spot and take a slow, deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth. Nice. Do that one more time. Breathe in and out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
It wasn't the weather that kept me home today, though there were certainly still drifts of snow banked beside the front door, and a low gray sky that hinted at more to come. It was just that feeling when I woke the feeling of being a bit overexposed to the world, of needing a day of quiet to myself that helped me make up my mind.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
As I stirred my morning cup of coffee, I decided to stay home all day. to not go out unless it was to feed the birds or bring in firewood, or to stand for a few moments in the cool air and breathe in the smell of, well, winter air really smells like the absence of, of growing green things, of movement and doing. I guess winter air smells like quiet and stillness and repose.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
And that matched my needs perfectly today. Once I'd decided that today was a day for retreat, I'd taken my nearly full journal from my drawer and my pen and a blanket, and went to the window seat that looked down into the small, sloping valley at the edge of my backyard.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
In the summer, when I would sit here with the window open and let the birdsong and the warm breeze in, I could imagine myself in a treehouse, as all I could see were layers and layers of leaves. These were old trees, their toes dug deep into the rich lowland, and their tops level with my window. Now I looked out at their bare branches, spread like reaching fingers across the sky.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location. And since I'm a person... And not a computer. I sometimes sound just slightly different. But the stories are always soothing and family-friendly. And our wishes for you are always deep rest and sweet dreams. So I'm about to tell you a bedtime story. And the story is like a soft landing spot for your mind.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
Nests from last summer were suddenly visible as dark clumps in the joints of those fingers. And I wondered where their former residents were at this moment, spreading their wings in bright sunlight, splashing in a friendly birdbath in a southerly backyard. or sleeping with a wing tucked over a head in a new nest somewhere warm.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
I spent a while sitting there, writing in my journal and looking out the window. I wrote about small things from the week, some that I wanted to remember, and some that I was ready to forget. and putting them down on the paper helped me to do that. It gave them a place to live that wasn't my head. Eventually, I set the book aside and pulled the blanket closer around me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
Sometimes from this spot, I could see deer browsing through the trunks of trees, dipping their heads and nosing the snow aside from a mouthful of berries. But today, all was still. Everyone was staying home. Eventually, I slipped my feet back into my slippers and padded down into the kitchen. It was a bit past lunchtime Nearly two, in fact.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
And that made me think of the Italian way of eating a good-sized meal at this time of day. Something that would stay with you and nourish you for a good long while. I went to my cupboard and pulled down a jar of green lentils, a tiny can of tomato paste, and a box of pasta. Pasta con lenticchio today. A comforting pasta soup that was simple to make and delicious and satisfying.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
I tipped the lentils into a colander to rinse them, and as they ran over my fingers, I had a sudden memory of being very young, maybe four years old, in a classroom with a paint-smeared smock tied around me. There were bins of rice and grains, and we could dip our tiny hands into them and feel them tickle over our skin as all the kernels and seeds collided.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
I remembered that I had liked the way it felt. and had happily stayed there, just sliding my hands through the bins and quietly humming to myself. I supposed I hadn't changed that much in the years since. I still liked the pleasure of my own company, and could easily entertain myself with simple, enjoyable things. I took a small pot from a shelf and set it on the stove.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
I measured in water and olive oil, a clove of garlic and a spoonful of the tomato paste. I added the rinsed lentils and turned on the hob. As the water warmed and came to a boil, The smell of the tomato and garlic filled my little kitchen. I turned it a bit lower and let it simmer away for a bit to let the lentils soften.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
I liked a small pasta noodle for this, like titali, which are short tubes and whose name meant thimble. I liked that. Thimble soup. on a cold day. The broth had become a bit thicker as the lentils cooked and was a rich, reddish brown. I tipped in the pasta and gave it a stir. As it cooked, I set a place for myself at the table. A glass of mineral water, a napkin, salt and pepper,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
and a tiny dish of red pepper flakes. I was rationing them and had been doling them out in tiny increments for a while now. You can buy them anywhere, but these particular peperoncini had been bought in a little shop in Maiori by a friend. and therefore had a special flavor that probably had more to do with sentiment than taste buds.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
I imagined her on her summer vacation with a floppy hat and giant sunglasses, stepping out of the bright Mediterranean sun into a shop with packets of spices strung on a hook by the door, and remembering how much I liked to add these to my soups and sauces, taking one down for me. When the pasta was cooked, I ladled it out into a bowl and carried it to my place.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
Rather than letting your brain race through the same thoughts you've been chasing all day, we are going to take a detour to a calm and cozy place. I'll tell this story twice, and I'll go a bit slower the second time through. If you wake again in the middle of the night, just walk yourself back through any of the details that you remember. and you'll drop right back off.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
I pinched a few flakes of pepper in and stirred it through. The lentils had nearly dissolved, and the surface of the broth was speckled with olive oil. The clove of garlic had gone soft and sweet as it cooked, and I spooned it into my first bite with a few pasta thimbles and a good bit of the tomato stock. This day, this meal, the time at the window with my book and pen, They were restoring me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
It's easy these days to feel like you're under a microscope, over-examined or scrutinized, and then to feel like you need a bit of time to be invisible to the rest of the world. And with a lot of care and tenderness, to simply mind your own business. That's what I would continue to do today. Tend to myself and let the world revolve without me for a bit. All day at home.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
It wasn't the weather that kept me home today. though there were certainly still drifts of snow banked beside the front door, and a low gray sky that hinted at more to come. It was just that feeling when I woke, a feeling of being a bit overexposed to the world, of needing a day of quiet to myself that helped me to make up my mind.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All Day, At Home (Encore)
As I stirred my morning cup of coffee, I decided to stay home all day, to not go out unless it was to feed the birds or to bring in firewood. to stand for a few moments in the cool air and breathe in the smell of, well, winter air really smells like the absence of, of growing green things, of movement and doing. I guess winter air Smells like quiet and stillness and repose.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
If you're listening, you know self-care is vital for overall wellness, but it can be hard to prioritize yourself and ask for what you need. If you're a veteran going through a tough time, there are people who want to listen and help with no pressure or judgment. Dial 988, then press 1. Chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net or text 838255 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
I didn't have enough luminaries to line all the sidewalks, but why should not being able to do everything stop me from doing something? I parked my car at the corner and opened the hatch. I put a scoop of sand in each bag and took as many candles as I could carry and started to walk from house to house.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
Where the front walk met the sidewalk, I'd settled the luminary, shaking the sand into an even layer across the bottom of the bag. Nestle the candle down into it, and with a long lighter, light the wick. Just like Santa, I went from house to house, and also like Santa, I was a bit stealthy and managed not to be seen.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
I left one also beside a vacant lot in front of the corner store and at the little library where I often hunted for a new book. The candles didn't have much wax in them. They were meant to be burned for an evening only and I'd have to go back around tomorrow to pick them all up.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
But driving along the streets and seeing everyone represented in a glowing, flickering light made it all feel well worth it. People would look out, as I did so often in the winter, and see light And, at least for a moment, I hoped, feel comfort and joy. Comfort and joy. I'd made a paper chain right after Thanksgiving. Just like the kind
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
we'd made in elementary school to help us count down to the first day of vacation. Thick strips of red and green construction paper curled over and daubed with a bit of Elmer's glue. It was actually quite a nice, calm project, as there was no way to do it quickly.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
I'd thread a new piece through the previous ring, making sure to alternate the colors, and then glue and hold it, pressed between my fingers. for a few moments till it's stuck and start again. I strung it above my kitchen sink, up and around the picture window that looks out through my side yard and down the sloping street into town.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
But the stories are always soothing and family-friendly, and our wishes for you are always deep rest and sweet dreams. Now, since every episode is someone's first, I'd like to say a bit about how this works. I have a story to tell you. And just like the name implies, nothing much happens in it. I write the opposite of thrillers. I write soothers.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
Each night before bed, after I'd wiped down the counters and set up my coffee pot for the next morning, I'd turn off the lights and look out through the window. My neighbor's house was strung with colored twinkle lights. And across the street, I could see trees glowing in windows. Streetlights reflected off of wet pavement and snow. And in town, cafes and shops were lit up as well.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
I read once that it does something to us to watch moving water. There is something primordial about it. And when we witness the tide come in, or a river rushing through the towers of a bridge, or even just a tiny stream rolling over rocks. We soften. We relax and focus. And I have always thought
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
that it must be the same ancient parts of our brains and hearts that tell us to look for light in the winter. Twinkle lights, fireplaces, the candles on the menorah, the atmospheric glow of a bustling city street. It isn't the same effect as tides and lakes. This fills a different need.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
And each evening, as I looked out my window and drank up the light around me, I'd feel warmed, inspired, comforted. Then I'd reach up and tear away a link in my paper chain. I liked anticipation. Sometimes it was even better than whatever I was waiting for. And now my chain was just a few links long. they wouldn't stretch across the window anymore.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
I'd had to take them down and set them out along the sill beside the potted sprig of jade that, just like me, had been reaching for the light lately. Looking at the last few remaining links, feeling the building anticipation. I felt the urge to do something with these last precious days of the year.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
It was something a friend had said to me a long time ago, a simple fact that had left a deep impression that time passes either way. And it passes whether you use it or not. Time doesn't wait for you. And when I was younger, I'd sometimes interpreted that incorrectly. in a way that had everything to do with how much I could get done in a day, how productive I was. I'd moved on from that now.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
Now I realized it had to do with how many days of my life I enjoyed. how many friends I made, and the quality of the time I spent, even when, or especially when, I was alone and doing simple things. So I thought about how I might spend this time, about warmth and light, and I laughed to myself. thinking of the old carol. What I wanted was to bring tidings of comfort and joy.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
And if you just follow along with the sound of my voice and the simple shape of the story, we'll capture enough of your brain's attention to ease it into task positive mode and out of default mode, which just means you'll fall asleep. I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
I stepped out into my garage in my slippers and began shifting boxes and looking through shelves and cubbies. Right away, I found a few boxes of twinkle lights. And without hesitation, I got dressed in my boots and coat and started wrapping them around the tree in the center of my front yard. It was a rowan tree.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
Fully mature, but naturally a bit smaller than the oaks and maples in the neighborhood. I wrapped the lights in tight coils up the trunk and stretched them patiently out and around a few branches. Rowan trees are sometimes called traveler's trees and are meant to help prevent those on a journey from getting lost. Well, I thought, we can all use that, can't we?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
Once the lights were plugged in and the tree was glowing in the yard, I went back to the garage to see what else I could find. Years ago, there had been a tradition in our neighborhood to light luminaries in long rows on the sidewalks on Christmas Eve. And for whatever reason, it had been forgotten for a while now.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
I remembered my first holiday here, stepping out that night and seeing hundreds of white paper bags lit from within. It had felt like a miracle. In a dusty box between my bike pump and a stack of seasoned logs for the fireplace, I found what I had been looking for. There had been a fundraiser at the library over the summer.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
They sold luminary kits with the paper bags, sand to keep them in place, and tiny candles set down deep in tall holders. I'd forgotten all about them and was so happy to find them now. I looked through the supplies. counting what was there, and had an idea. I waited till the sun set, then loaded my kit into the back of my car and started to drive slowly through the neighborhood.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
I didn't have enough luminaries to line all the sidewalks. But why should not being able to do everything stop me from doing something? I parked my car at a corner and opened the hatch. I put a scoop of sand in each bag and took as many candles as I could carry and started to walk from house to house. Where each front walk met the sidewalk, I'd settle a luminary, shaking the sand.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
If you wake in the night, don't hesitate to turn us right back on, or to just think through any of the details from the story that you can remember. We're creating a conditioned response in your brain, and it will get stronger and more reliable with time. But be patient if you're new to this. Our story tonight is called Comfort and Joy.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
into an even layer across the bottom of the bag. Nestle the candle down into it. And with a long lighter, light the wick. Just like Santa, I went from one house to the next. And also like Santa, I was a bit stealthy. and managed not to be seen. I left one beside a vacant lot in front of the corner store and at the little library where I often hunted for a new book.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
The candles didn't have much wax in them, They were meant to be burned for an evening only, and I'd have to go back around tomorrow to pick them all up. But driving along the streets and seeing everyone represented in a glowing, flickering light, made it all feel well worth it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
People would look out, as I did so often in the winter, and see light, and, at least for a moment, I hoped, feel comfort and joy. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
And it's a story about adding light to the darkest evenings of winter. It's also about bringing back a sweet neighborhood tradition, a rowan tree laced with lights, and a paper chain to count down the days. If you're listening, you know self-care is vital for overall wellness, but it can be hard to prioritize yourself and ask for what you need.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
If you're a veteran going through a tough time, there are people who want to listen and help with no pressure or judgment. Dial 988, then press 1. Chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net or text 838255 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line. Responders are ready to support you, no matter what you're going through. Anybody else need a getaway? Something restorative, luxurious, and grown-ups-only?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
Let me tell you about Virgin Voyage's award-winning vacations at sea. They have an emphasis on luxury, with over $1,000 in value included in every sailing. And everything they offer, from their menus, which are created by Michelin star chefs, to their cabins, designed by top international firms.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
Responders are ready to support you, no matter what you're going through. Ready for a getaway? Virgin Voyages is the adults-only destination for anyone seeking a restorative, luxurious, and award-winning vacation at sea. They focus on creating relaxing spaces. The cabins are meticulously designed to give you a gorgeous place to feel renewed. And Virgin Voyages is exclusively adult.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
It's all award-winning, voted world's best by travel and leisure and Condé Nast readers for the second year in a row. Virgin Voyages is exclusively adult. They cater food, entertainment, and activities to adult tastes, and their sailors love it. Explore the Caribbean this winter on one of their week-long Caribbean escapes. Learn more at virginvoyages.com or contact your travel advisor.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
Now it's time to turn off the light and to put away anything you've been playing with or looking at. Make your body as comfortable as possible. And let everything relax. You have done enough for today. Truly, it is enough. Take a deep breath in through the nose. And a soft sigh from your mouth. Do that one more time. Breathe in. Let it out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
I'd made a paper chain. right after Thanksgiving, just like the kind we'd made in elementary school to help us count down to the first day of vacation. Thick strips of red and green construction paper curled over and daubed with a bit of Elmer's glue It was actually quite a nice, calm project, as there was no way to do it quickly.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
I'd thread a new piece through the previous ring, making sure to alternate the colors, and then glue and hold it, pressed between my fingers. for a few moments till it stuck, and then start again. I strung it above my kitchen sink, up and around the picture window that looks out through my side yard and down the sloping street into town. Each night before bed,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
after I'd wiped down the counters and set up my coffee pot for the next morning. I turn off the lights and look out through the window. My neighbor's house was strung with colored twinkle lights. And across the street, I could see trees glowing in windows. Streetlights reflected off of wet pavement and snow. And in town, cafes and shops were lit up as well.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
I read once that it does something to us to watch moving water. There is something primordial about it. And when we witness the tide come in, or a river rushing through the towers of a bridge, or even just a tiny stream rolling over rocks, we soften. We relax and focus.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
And I have always thought that it must be the same ancient parts of our brains and hearts that tell us to look for light in the winter. Twinkle lights, fireplaces, the candles on the menorah, the atmospheric glow of a bustling city street, It isn't the same effect as tides and lakes. This fills a different need.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
They cater food, entertainment, and activities to adult tastes. Explore the Caribbean this winter on one of their week-long Caribbean escapes. Learn more at virginvoyages.com or contact your travel advisor. Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
And each evening as I looked out my window and drank up the light around me, I'd feel warmed, inspired, comforted. Then I'd reach up and tear away one link in my paper chain. I liked anticipation. Sometimes it was even better than whatever I was waiting for. And now my chain was just a few links long. They wouldn't stretch across the window anymore.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
I'd had to take them down and set them out along the sill, beside the potted sprig of jade that, just like me, had been reaching for the light lately. Looking at the last few remaining links, feeling that building anticipation, I felt the urge to do something with these last precious days of the year. It was something a friend had said to me a long time ago.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
A simple fact that had left a deep impression. That time passes either way. It passes whether you use it or not. Time doesn't wait for you. And when I was younger, I'd sometimes interpreted that incorrectly, in a way that had something to do with how much I could get done in a day, how productive I was. I'd moved on from that. Now I realized it had to do with how many days of my life I enjoyed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
How many friends I made. The quality of the time I spent, even when, or especially when, I was alone, doing simple things. So I thought about how I might spend this time, about warmth and light. I laughed to myself, thinking of the old carol. What I wanted was to bring tidings of comfort and joy.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
I stepped out into my garage in my slippers and began shifting boxes and looking through shelves and cubbies. Right away, I found a few boxes of twinkle lights. And without hesitation, I got dressed in my boots and coat. and started wrapping them around the tree in the center of my front yard.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
It was a rowan tree, fully mature, but naturally a bit smaller than the oaks and maples in the neighborhood. I wrapped the lights and tight coils up the trunk, and stretch them patiently out and around a few branches. Rowan trees are sometimes called traveler's trees, and are meant to help prevent those on a journey from getting lost. Well, I thought, we can all use that, can't we?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
Once the lights were plugged in and the tree was glowing in the yard, I went back to the garage to see what else I could find. Years ago, there had been a tradition in our neighborhood to light luminaries in long rows on the sidewalks on Christmas Eve. And for whatever reason, it had been forgotten for a while now.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past. It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location. And since I'm a person... and not a computer, I sometimes sound just slightly different.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
I remembered my first holiday here, stepping out that night and seeing hundreds of white paper bags lit from within. It had felt like a miracle. A miracle. in a dusty box between my bike pump and a stack of seasoned logs for the fireplace. I found what I'd been looking for. There'd been a fundraiser at the library over the summer.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Comfort & Joy (Encore)
They sold luminary kits with the paper bags, sand to keep them in place, and small candles set down deep in tall holders. I'd forgotten about them, and I was so happy to find them now. I looked through the supplies, counting what was there, and had an idea. I waited till sunset, then loaded my kit into the back of my car and started to drive slowly through the neighborhood.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
I was a full-time yoga teacher for over 20 years, and I know the power of intentional breathing. It's why our two deep breaths have been part of our bedtime routine since Episode 1. And that's why I want to introduce you to Moonbird. Moonbird is a handheld breathing device designed to comfortably fit in the palm of your hand. When you shake it, it will start inflating and deflating.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
But the following autumn, the first day the boiler had kicked on, and the radiators began to circulate warmth, she'd discovered it. A broad, flat shelf built over the radiator and right beside a big picture window. She could lay her soft belly against the wood and feel the heat rising up. as she looked out at the birds in the branches. Pure kitty heaven.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
Plus, and I think this was a big plus, Crumb couldn't reach her there. Crumb, my little brown dog, with a snaggletooth and a lion's mane of delightfully disheveled fur, adored Marmalade. He brought her his toys and waited for her at dinnertime, shifting excitedly from paw to paw as her plate was set down beside his.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
While Marmee frequently pretended not to notice any of this, I saw them snuggled together under the blanket at night, her cleaning his face and ears each day. We were a little family, the three of us, and I loved our life. Crumb and I took walks most days, though lately the icy sidewalks had made them less fun.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
I'd bought him little booties to protect his paws, which went about as well as you might imagine. He'd stood at the door, alternating between shaking out each leg and freezing in place as if we were playing red light, green light. We'd made it about 20 feet down the sidewalk before we'd abandoned the whole idea and since then waited for dry days to go for walks.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
Instead, I found some other ways to entertain all of us over the winter. I'd grown a pot full of catnip on the windowsill in the kitchen. And in the afternoons, when we all needed a pick-me-up, I'd rub a leaf along Marmalade's scratching post. and over her tiny toy mice. And Crum and I would watch her go from sleepy and disinterested to wild attack cat in a flash.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
I found out Crum enjoyed car rides, and once a week or so, we'd head out to do some errands together. he quickly became a favorite customer at several of our stops. He was such a natural ham that he made everyone laugh and fall in love with him. In fact, if I showed up at the hardware store without him,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
The clerks would peer over the counter and listen for the scrabble of his paws on the linoleum, asking, Where's Crumb? They kept biscuits by the register for him, and those days had become a long buffet of treats for Crumb. We'd often end at our favorite coffee shop, which had a covered patio with heaters and a walk-up, dog-friendly window.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past. It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location. And since I'm a person... and not a computer.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
I'd get my matcha with soy, Crum would get his pup cup with biscuit garnish, and we'd find a table in the sun. He'd scramble up onto my lap, and we'd enjoy our quiet time together. When we got home from those days out, Marmalade would meet us at the door, thoroughly sniff crumb as if to assure herself. He hadn't been anywhere he shouldn't have.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
Then turn her tail and head back to her spot in the window. We'd also had more playdates with Birdie, the sweet, giant greyhound who Marmalade had known since she was a kitten. Bertie's favorite thing to do was sleep. So when he and his dad came over, it was often for a quiet day inside together. In fact, those days together had grown more frequent in the last couple of months.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
We'd started without even noticing to spend every Friday night, all five of us watching movies on the giant sofa in my living room, waiting for takeout to be delivered or cooking together in the kitchen. It had grown slowly, organically, this feeling of being together, being more natural, more comfortable than being apart.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
And now Birdie had his own bed beside the others and his own bowl in the kitchen. He ate different kibble than crumb. And I'd bought a big bag of it from the pet store to keep in my pantry. Talk about commitment. I went to pet Marmalade in her spot at the window. And she woke as I laid a hand in her fur. she snuggled her head up into my palm.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
As I rubbed her ears and scratched down her back, I started to tell her about something we had planned. I think Crumb already knew. since he'd found my suitcase open in the middle of the bedroom and had sat in it and frowned for a while. Now, Marmee, I said, leaning down to talk quietly to her. You've got to be a big girl, a good big sister. You know how Crum looks up to you.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
Her tail flicked and she began to purr. You and Crum and Birdie are going to spend a few days with a friend. You know her, the nice lady at the inn. She's going to take care of you all, and you're going to have fun there. Bertie's dad and I will only be gone for a few days, and we'll bring you back something nice. She turned and looked at me shrewdly, then faced back to the window,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
I sometimes sound just slightly different, but the stories are always soothing and family-friendly, and our wishes for you are always deep rest and sweet dreams. Especially at night, your mind can spin and spiral with thoughts. And you need a way to lift the needle off the record, to find some stillness and peace. And that's what this story is for.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
where a bright yellow bird with a swath of black across his wings and bold yellow eyebrows sat. An evening grosbeak, a rare pretty bird. It seemed auspicious. Crumb pranced over. and I scooped him up so he could look out as well. I was excited for our trip. We were headed somewhere sunny, where we could walk on the beach and see how this little spark we'd started might grow.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
And I was also a little nervous to leave the animals. The innkeeper had jumped at the chance to host them as they were still closed for the season. And she'd mentioned she'd been thinking about getting an animal friend. So we'd all of us be testing things this next week or so. I'd pack up my own bag with sandals and sundresses and books to read on the beach.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
And then I'd pack up their little bags with their favorite blankies and toys and kibble. And tomorrow we'd drop them off at the inn. I imagined them running through the halls. Crumb chasing a toy down the length of the ballroom and Marmalade preening among the houseplants in the library. I was excited to go and already excited to come back home again. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
I'll read it twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through. Just follow along with the sound of my voice and the simple shape of the tale. And before you know it, you'll be waking up tomorrow. feeling rested and refreshed. Our story tonight is called Cat Nap. And it's a story about Marmalade the cat and Crumb the dog as they find ways to play through the winter.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
It's also about the spark of something sweet that begins to grow between friends. a pup cup enjoyed on a heated patio, and a suitcase ready to be packed. Now, switch off your light, set down anything you've been looking at, snuggle down into your sheets, and pull your comforter up over your shoulder. You are safe. There's nothing you need to remember or stay on top of. You can let everything go.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
Take a slow, deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. Again, bring it in. Out with sound. Good. Cat nap. Marmalade was dozing in her spot by the window. She'd been too small to climb up to it that first winter when I found her, a tiny orange kitten out in the snow. But the following autumn,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
The first day the boiler had kicked on and the radiators began to circulate warmth, she'd discovered it. A broad, flat shelf built over the radiator and right beside a big picture window. She could lay her soft belly against the wood and feel the heat rising up. as she looked out at the birds and the branches. Pure kitty heaven.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
So in your hand, it will feel like you're holding a little bird that is breathing in and out. The only thing you need to do is breathe along with it. When Moonbird inflates, you breathe in. When Moonbird deflates, you breathe out. Simple, intuitive, and takes all the effort and thinking out of your breathing exercises. It's the perfect companion to your bedtime ritual.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
Plus, and I think this was a big plus, Crum couldn't reach her there. Crum, my little brown dog with a snaggletooth and a lion's mane of delightfully disheveled fur, adored marmalade. He brought her his toys and waited for her at dinnertime, shifting excitedly from paw to paw as her plate was set down beside his.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
While Marmee frequently pretended not to notice any of this, I saw that they snuggled together under the blanket at night, and that she cleaned his face and ears each day. We were a little family, the three of us, and I loved our life. Crumb and I took walks most days, though lately the icy sidewalks had made them less fun.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
I'd bought him booties to protect his paws, which went about as well as you might imagine. He'd stood at the door, alternating between shaking out each leg and freezing in place, as if we were playing red light, green light. We'd made it about twenty feet down the sidewalk, before we'd abandoned the whole idea. and since then waited for dry days to go on walks.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
Instead, I found some other ways to entertain all of us over the winter. I'd grown a pot full of catnip on the windowsill in the kitchen, and in the afternoons, when we all needed a pick-me-up, I'd rub a leaf along Marmalade's scratching post and over her tiny toy mice, and Crumb and I would watch her go from sleepy and disinterested to wild attack cat in a flash.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
I found out Crumb enjoyed car rides, and once a week or so, we'd head out to do some errands together. He quickly became a favorite customer at several of our stops. He was such a natural ham that he made everyone laugh and fall in love with him.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
In fact, if I showed up at the hardware store without him, the clerks would peer over the counter and listen for the scrabble of his paws on the linoleum, asking, Where's Crumb? they kept biscuits by the register for him. And those days out had become a long buffet of treats for Crum.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
We'd often end at our favorite coffee shop, which had a covered patio with heaters and a walk-up, dog-friendly window. I'd get my matcha with soy, Crumb would get his pup cup with biscuit garnish, and we'd find a table in the sun. He'd scramble up onto my lap, and we'd enjoy our quiet time together.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
Whenever we got home from those days out, Marmalade would meet us at the door, thoroughly sniff Crumb, as if to assure herself he hadn't been anywhere he shouldn't have, then turn her tail and head back to her spot in the window. We'd also had more playdates with Birdie, the sweet, giant greyhound who Marmalade had known since she was a kitten. Bertie's favorite thing to do was sleep.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
So when he and his dad came over, it was often for a quiet day inside together. In fact, those days together had grown more frequent in the last couple of months. We'd started without even noticing. to spend every Friday night, all five of us, watching movies on the giant sofa in my living room, waiting for takeout to be delivered, or cooking together in the kitchen.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
Or use it when you're meditating, when you're stuck in traffic, anytime you need an assist in feeling calm and focused. Listen, I know how to breathe to feel better, but still I use Moonbird because when my mind is racing or wandering, I need a little guidance and it makes my deep breathing more effective.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
It had grown slowly, organically, this feeling of being together, being more natural, more comfortable than being apart. And now, Bertie had his own bed beside the others, and his own bowl in the kitchen. He ate different kibble than crumb, and I'd bought a big bag of it from the pet store to keep in my pantry. Talk about commitment.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
I went to pet Marmalade in her spot at the window, and she woke as I laid a hand in her fur. She snuggled her head up into my palm as I rubbed her ears and scratched down her back. I started to tell her about something we had planned. I think Crum already knew, since he'd found my suitcase open in the middle of the bedroom and had sat in it and frowned for a while.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
Now, Marmee, I said, leaning down to talk quietly to her. You've got to be a big girl, a good big sister. You know how Crumb looks up to you. Her tail flicked and she began to purr. You and Crumb and Bertie, you're going to spend a few days with a friend. You know her, the nice lady at the inn. She's going to take care of you all. and you're going to have fun there.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
Bertie's dad and I will only be gone a few days, and we'll bring you back something nice. She turned and looked at me shrewdly, then faced back to the window. where a bright yellow bird with a swath of black across his wings and bold yellow eyebrows sat. An evening grosbeak, a rare, pretty bird. It seemed auspicious. Crumb pranced over, and I scooped him up so he could look out as well.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
I was excited for our trip. We were headed somewhere sunny, where we could walk on the beach and see how this little spark we'd started might grow. And I was also nervous to leave the animals. The innkeeper had jumped at the chance to host them. as they were still closed for the season, and she'd mentioned she'd been thinking about getting an animal friend.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
So when you wake in the middle of the night, don't reach for your phone, unless it's to restart your bedtime story. That's fine. Reach for Moonbird. Visit moonbird.life slash nothingmuchhappens to save 20%. We've got it linked in our show notes. Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone. in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Catherine Nicolai.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
So we'd, all of us, be testing things this next week or so. I'd pack up my own bag with sandals and sundresses and books to read on the beach, and then I'd pack up their little bags with their favorite blankies and toys and kibble. And tomorrow, we'd drop them off at the inn.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Catnap (Encore)
I imagined them running through the halls, Crum chasing a toy down the length of the ballroom, and Marmalade preening among the houseplants in the library. I was excited to go, and already excited to come back home again. Catnap Marmalade was dozing in her spot by the window. She'd been too small to climb up to it that first winter when I found her, a tiny orange kitten out in the snow.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Grownups, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. My book, also called Nothing Much Happens, is available wherever books are sold. Thank you for your support. Let's get ready to sleep.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
The boy tucked his hands in his coat pockets and stood with back against the cart. I thought he might be planning just how and when and to whom he was going to give that box of candy hearts. I remembered those class Valentine's Day parties in elementary school. Paper lunch sacks taped to the edge of your desk with your name in red crayon.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
sketched out on the brown paper, and walking through the rows, dropping envelopes into the sacks and a plate of cupcakes on the teacher's desk for after. I remembered the deliberation the night before. thumbing through the cards to find just the right one for that particular classmate, writing my name with careful curly cues and adding an extra sticker to the envelope. Would they notice?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
A shop full of flowers.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
The family was packing up their groceries, and as the box of candy came across the scanner. The boy's father scooped it up and handed it to him. He slipped it into the pocket of his coat with a small nod, and his father turned back to the register with a smile on his face. As they pushed their cart out to the car,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
The smile went from his face to mine, and I put a box of candy on the belt with my own groceries, thinking that if that little boy could be brave with his heart, I could too. Now, that box of hearts sat on my desk for a week, It caught my eye whenever I passed by.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
And today, as I sat at my desk, writing in my planner, my fingers gently drumming on the pink cardboard, I looked out my window to see a delivery person standing on my neighbor's front step, a bouquet of flowers in her hands. I watched her ring the bell and sat with that warm bloom of excitement for someone else's joy as I waited for my neighbor to open her door.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
If you're listening, you know self-care is vital for overall wellness, but it can be hard to prioritize yourself and ask for what you need. If you're a veteran going through a tough time, there are people who want to listen and help with no pressure or judgment. Dial 988, then press 1. Chat at VeteransCrisisLine.net or text 838255 to reach the Veterans Crisis Line.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
I watched her face as she did, the second of confusion that shifted to delight. and the unstoppable smile that lit up her face. She signed for the flowers and nearly took the pen back with her into her house. Laughing, she returned it, blushing and flustered. I looked at those candy hearts and slipped them into my pocket and headed out. There was a flower shop on an alley downtown.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
The windows were full of vases of long-stemmed roses and lilies about to bloom. I pushed through the old oak door and the scent of all those mixed blossoms struck me. There were layers of different kinds of sweetness, and under that the smell of water and soil and green plants. Could the smell of flowers be a kind of medicine? like a tincture or salve for lifting spirits and elevating thoughts.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
It was a busy place on this February afternoon, and as I browsed through the cases of flowers and shelves of houseplants, I moved around others on the same errand. There was an older gentleman, dressed in a tweed suit, dapper and proud, with shined shoes, and a pocket square folded just so in his breast pocket. The florist was wrapping up a bouquet for him.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
tucking baby's breath and pink and yellow tulips and crepe paper and tying it with a glossy ribbon. While he waited, he sidled up to me as I was looking at the pots of exotic plants and succulents. There was one that I had first mistaken for a Venus flytrap. whose arrow-shaped leaves were fringed with tiny green clamshells that seemed likely to clap together at a touch.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
The gentleman cleared his throat and said, Calencoe de Gramontiana, or Mother of Thousands. I tilted my head in question, and he reached out to touch the leaf, tipped with plantlets. As he did, a few small buds fell easily from the plant to land in the soil below. That's how her children leave the nest and grow up, he said.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
the florist called over to say his bouquet was ready, and I gave him a smile as he took it and left. I went back to looking for just the right flower, something that felt akin to the person I would give it to. That's the heart of romance, isn't it? Showing someone that you are paying attention to who they are and reflecting it back with appreciation and a bit of excitement.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
Responders are ready to support you, no matter what you're going through. Now, it's time to switch off the light. Set aside anything you've been looking at or working on. Adjust your pillows and comforter until you feel completely at ease. If you sometimes clench your jaw as you sleep, try resting the tip of your tongue at the place where your upper teeth meet the gums on the inside.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
It wasn't, I supposed, any different than looking through my stack of Valentine's cards in second grade to find just the right one to add that extra sticker to. There was a vase of feathery flowers and shades of light pink and cream and deep red. They were a bit like a fern who had given up on just being green and bloomed in a lacy soft plume.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
The florist caught my eye and I asked for all of them to be wrapped up in tissue and tied with a satin ribbon. This was no time for doing things by half. As I walked through the streets on my way to a particular stoop, I thought about the little boy dropping that box of candy in a paper sack taped to a school desk, and my neighbor opening her door and the gentleman in the shop with his flowers.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
In love, we must risk some hurt, but better that than holding inside something that should be shared. I stepped up to the door and made my heart brave and rang the bell. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
That will help to keep your jaw relaxed. Now you are about to fall asleep. You will sleep deeply all night. Take a deep breath in through your nose and sigh out of the mouth. Again, breathe in and out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
I'd been standing in line at the market, a basket in my hands, overflowing with all my favorite things to put into vegetable soup. I was wrapped in my scarf and coat and watching the family in front of me as they unloaded their cart onto the checkout belt. They had a little boy, maybe seven or eight.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
He'd been talking about science class and dancing around the cart in the unembarrassed way that children are smart enough to do. He stopped suddenly in front of a shelf of valentines. And I watched his face as he looked at the cards and candy. He looked like he was thinking hard. He picked up a box of those tiny candy hearts, the ones with messages printed on their pastel, chalky faces.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
He shook the box, and the hearts rattled inside. He peeked over at his dad, who was quietly watching from the register. He lifted an eyebrow, and the little boy tilted his head in a silent question and answer. His dad gave him a tiny nod, and the boy slipped the box onto the belt, beside a can of tomatoes and a box of spaghetti.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
The boy tucked his hands in his coat pockets and stood with back against the cart. I thought he might be planning just how and when and to whom he was going to give that box of candy hearts. I remembered those class Valentine's Day parties in elementary school.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
paper lunch sacks taped to the edge of your desk with your name in red crayon sketched out on the brown paper, and walking through the rows, dropping envelopes into the sacks and a plate of cupcakes on the teacher's desk for after. I remembered the deliberation the night before,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
I'll read you a simple, cozy story. It's a place to rest your mind, and when your mind rests, your body inevitably will follow. I'll read the story twice, and I'll go a little slower on the second read. Just follow along with the sound of my voice and the cozy details of the story. Pull them around yourself, as you would a soft blanket.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
thumbing through the cards to find just the right one for that particular classmate, writing my name with careful curly cues and adding an extra sticker to the envelope. Would they notice? The family was packing up their groceries. and as the box of candy came across the scanner, the boy's father scooped it up and handed it to him.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
He slipped it into the pocket of his coat with a small nod, and his father turned back to the register with a smile on his face. As they pushed their cart out to the car, the smile went from his face to mine, And I put a box of candy on the belt with my own groceries, thinking that if that little boy could be brave with his heart, I could too. Now that box of hearts sat on my desk for a week.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
It caught my eye whenever I passed by. And today, as I sat at my desk writing in my planner, my fingers gently drumming on the pink cardboard. I looked out my window to see a delivery person standing on my neighbor's front step, a bouquet of flowers in her hands. I watched her ring the bell and sat with that warm bloom of excitement for someone else's joy,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
as I waited for my neighbor to open her door. I watched her face as she did, the second of confusion that shifted to delight and the unstoppable smile that lit up her face. She signed for the flowers and nearly took the pen back with her into her house. Laughing, she returned it, blushing and flustered. I looked at those candy hearts and slipped them into my pocket and headed out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
There was a flower shop on an alley downtown. The windows were full of vases of long-stemmed roses and lilies about to bloom. pushed through the old oak door, and the scent of all those mixed blossoms struck me. There were layers of different kinds of sweetness, and under that the smell of water and soil and green plants. Could the smell of flowers be a kind of medicine?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
like a tincture or salve for lifting spirits and elevating thoughts. It was a busy place on this February afternoon, and as I browsed through the cases of flowers and shelves of houseplants, I moved around others on the same errand. There was an older gentleman, dressed in a tweed suit, dapper and proud with shined shoes and a pocket square folded just so in his breast pocket.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
The florist was wrapping up a bouquet for him, tucking baby's breath and pink and yellow tulips in crepe paper and tying it with a glossy ribbon. While he waited, he sidled up to me as I was looking at the pots of exotic plants and succulents.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
There was one that I had at first mistaken for a Venus flytrap, whose arrow-shaped leaves were fringed with tiny green clamshells that seemed likely to clap together at a touch. The gentleman cleared his throat and said, Callan Coey, Degramontiana, or Mother of Thousands. I tilted my head in question, and he reached out to touch the leaf tipped with plantlets.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
As he did, a few small buds fell easily from the plant to land in the soil below. That's how her children leave the nest and grow up, he said. The florist called over to say his bouquet was ready, and I gave him a smile as he took it and left. I went back to looking for just the right flower, something that felt akin to the person I would give it to. That's the heart of romance, isn't it?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
And if you wake in the night, take yourself back into the story, thinking back through any bit you can remember. This trains your brain to return to sleep mode. And the more you practice it, the easier you will find it. Our story tonight is called Hearts and Flowers. And it's a story about showing someone what's in your heart. It's also about a Valentine's Day card signed with the flourish.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
Showing someone that you are paying attention to who they are. And reflecting it back with appreciation and a bit of excitement. It wasn't, I supposed, any different than looking through my stack of Valentine's cards in second grade. to find just the right one to add that extra sticker to. There was a vase of feathery flowers and shades of light pink and cream and deep red.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
They were a bit like a fern who had given up on being just green and bloomed in a lacy soft plume. The florist caught my eye, and I asked for all of them to be wrapped up in tissue and tied with a satin ribbon. This was no time for doing things by half. As I walked through the streets on my way to a particular stoop,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
I thought about the little boy dropping that box of candy in a paper sack taped to a school desk, and my neighbor opening her door, and the gentleman in the shop with his flowers. In love, we must risk some hurt, but better that than holding inside something that should be shared. I stepped up to the door and made my heart brave and ring the bell. Hearts and flowers.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
I'd been standing in line at the market, a basket in my hands. overflowing with all my favorite things put into vegetable soup. I was wrapped in my scarf and coat and watching the family in front of me as they unloaded their cart onto the checkout belt. They had a little boy, maybe seven, or eight.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
He'd been talking about science class and dancing around the cart in the unembarrassed way that children are smart enough to do. He stopped suddenly in front of a shelf of valentines. And I watched his face as he looked at the cards and candy. He looked like he was thinking hard. He picked up a box of those tiny candy hearts. The ones with messages printed on their pastel, chalky faces.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Hearts & Flowers (Encore)
He shook the box, and the hearts rattled inside. He peeked over at his dad, who was quietly watching from the register. He lifted an eyebrow, and the little boy tilted his head in a silent question and answer. His dad gave him a tiny nod, and the boy slipped the box onto the belt beside a can of tomatoes and a box of spaghetti.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
I was nearly there, taking the last few turns down the dirt roads, on the far side of the orchard, out nearly to the county line, Snow had fallen steadily for the last day or so, and while the skies were still low and gray, the wind had gone and the day felt bright. We often say to each other, when clouds blanket the sky. Where did the sun go? But of course, it hasn't gone anywhere.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
It persists, steadily sending its warmth and light to us, even when we cannot see it. I'd been forgetting things like that lately, and it was laying me low. I'd been looking at the world through the darkest, most smudged lens. A friend, hearing that heaviness in my voice over the phone, asked when the last time was that I'd been outside for a good long walk.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
Think through any part of the story that you can remember, and you'll drop right back off. Our story tonight is called All the Way Around the Lake, and it's a story about a slow walk on a cold day It's also about crossing bridges, a paper birch tree on an island, and remembering things that were forgotten.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
I stopped to think and felt my face break into a smile. I almost laughed, seeing clearly for the first time in a few days. Thank you, was all I said. And I hung up the phone and went to find my boots. I turned into the lot. just a clear, plowed space off the side of the road with a dozen cars parked in it. As I stepped out onto the frozen gravel, I made sure I had my hat, my mittens,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
My muffler pulled over my chin, then felt into my pockets for other necessities, and found a lip balm and a pack of tissues for the effects of this lovely, fresh, cold air on my nose. I had everything I needed and set off down the trail toward the lake. Immediately, just being outside, I felt better. I took deep breaths of the piney, icy air
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
and it felt like a vitamin hitting my system, instantly boosting my mood and energy. The path went through the woods for a while, and I stopped now and then to look up at the hundreds of bare branches against the sky, I saw bundles of twigs and leaves tucked into the crooks of tree boughs. Avian summer homes, now shuttered for the season.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
Black squirrels, their thick, fluffy tails dancing behind them, were checking their inventories Up one tree, across to another, down to the roots, and then digging in the snow. The path turned, and there was the lake. Another dose of what I'd been missing. I stopped to take in a long look. There was an edge of ice along the shore, a yard or so wide.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
It was bright and white with heaps of snow, and the water beside shone dark against it. Out in the middle of the lake was a tiny island, only as big around as a kitchen table, but with one tall paper birch tree standing on it. These trees, with their thin, flat barks, tend to attract folks with pocket knives, who feel the need to carve in initials and dates.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
Even the oldest graffiti in the world, in tombs in Egypt, in labyrinths in Sudan, carved on stone walls of basilicas in Smyrna, mostly just say, so-and-so was here. It seems to be a universal compulsion to leave a mark. Still, I was glad that paper birch was safe from all of that out there. Where it could drop its seeds to be carried on the water to some other fertile place.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
It seemed to me that planting a seed was a better way to leave a mark. and carving out a scar. That lake scent of water and cold felt clear and clean in my nose and lungs. I kept walking. I was going all the way around the lake today. It would take an hour or more, and that was fine with me. I passed a family walking with their dogs, and we smiled at each other behind our scarves.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
Set everything down. Get as comfortable as you can. You have done enough for today and now it is time to sleep. Take a deep breath in through your nose and let it out your mouth. Again, slow in. Out with sound.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
Their dogs looked built for cold weather, with thick fur and broad chests, and pulled their people forward, their eager paws digging into the snow like they were pulling a sleigh. The path turned into the woods for a bit, and scattered across it were a few fallen branches from a pine tree.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
I think it is the very best scent in the world, fresh pine, and I felt so incredibly lucky to be just where I was right then. I nearly laughed aloud at how far my mood had shifted just by spending a little time outside. Walking in the snow felt a bit like walking in sand. And while I knew that was good therapy for my legs,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
I reminded myself I wasn't on a deadline and walked slower and spent more time just looking at the landscape. The lake came back into view and here it was solid ice with geese and ducks walking and sitting on the surface. They honked and quacked at each other, unbothered by the cold, and turned their faces to the dim light of the sun behind the clouds. Among the mallards,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
was one white farm duck. Every year I would look for him, a standout in the crowd, and the only member of his flock I could identify. But still, I would eagerly search for him each spring. I hadn't found him this year and hoped he was just watering at another lake or that I was missing him by chance on my walks. Now, here he was and I was so glad to see him. Maybe that's silly.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
Or maybe it's the very best human instinct just to check on others, even strangers, and see that they have made it safely back home. I was more than halfway around the lake now and came to a spot free from ice, where the water flowed. There was a bridge made of stones and mortar that spanned a section of the lake where it split off into another.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
In the summer, you could look down to see a shoal of carp each two or three feet long, with silver bellies floating lazily in the shallows. I stood listening to the water as it rushed under the bridge, dropping into the lower lake behind me. There's some magic about bridges, isn't there? It's where you fall in love at first sight in a movie.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
Where you stand to toss over a corked bottle with a secret inside. Pensively skimmed stones. And if you were walking across a bridge on a summer night, just as a bloom of fireworks streaked the sky above you. Would you ever forget it? Whether it is made of steel girders, 277 feet up, with tugboats and freighters passing underneath, or planks of creaking wood in a dense forest,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
or stones and mortar over hibernating carp. There is something about crossing a bridge that takes you out of your head and drops you right back into your body. I was nearing the end of my walk. Another ten minutes, and I'd be back to my car. I was warmed up from the exercise, but felt the chill in my feet and in the tip of my nose. I needed a tune-up, and I'd gotten one.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
I was recalibrated and ready to go back. I'd take off my layers and make a huge cup of hot chocolate and settle down in my chair that faces the backyard. I'd lift the cup to my lips and blow at the steam and look out at the red glow behind the clouds, and remind myself that even when I can't see it, the light is there. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
I was nearly there, taking the last few turns down the dirt roads on the far side of the orchard, out nearly to the county line. Snow had fallen steadily for the last day or so, And while the skies were still low and gray, the wind had gone and the day felt bright. We often say to each other, when clouds blink at the sky, where did the sun go? But, of course, it hasn't gone anywhere. It persists.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
steadily sending its warmth and light to us, even when we cannot see it. I'd been forgetting things like that lately, and it was laying me low. And I was looking at the world through the darkest, most smudged lens. A friend, hearing that heaviness in my voice over the phone, asked when the last time was that I'd been outside for a good, long walk.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
I stopped to think and felt my face break into a smile. I almost laughed, seeing clearly for the first time in a few days. Thank you, was all I said, and hung up the phone and went to find my boots. I turned into the lot, just a clear plowed space off the side of the road with a dozen cars parked in it. As I stepped out onto the frozen gravel, I made sure I had my hat,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
my mittens, my muffler pulled over my chin, then felt into my pockets for other necessities and found a lip balm and a pack of tissues for the effects of this lovely, fresh, cold air on my nose. I had everything I needed. and set off down the trail toward the lake. Immediately, just being outside, I felt better.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
I took deep breaths of the piney, icy air, and it felt like a vitamin hitting my system, instantly boosting my mood and energy. The path went through the woods for a while, and I stopped now and then to look up at the hundreds of bare branches against the sky. I saw bundles of twigs and leaves tucked into the crooks of tree boughs. Avian summer homes now shuttered for the seasons.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location. And since I'm a person... And not a computer. I sometimes sound just slightly different. But the stories are always soothing and family-friendly. And our wishes for you are always deep rest and sweet dreams. Now, I have a story to tell you. It's a soft place to rest your mind.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
Black squirrels, their thick, fluffy tails dancing behind them, were checking their inventory. Up one tree, across to another, down to the roots, and then digging in the snow. The path turned, and there was the lake. Ah, another dose of what I'd been missing. I stopped to take in a long look. There was an edge of ice along the shore, a yard or so wide. It was bright and white with heaps of snow,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
and the water beside shone dark against it. Out in the middle of the lake was a tiny island, only as big around as a kitchen table, but with one tall paper birch tree standing on it. These trees, with their thin, flat bark, tend to attract folks with pocket knives who feel the need to carve in initials and dates.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
Even the oldest graffiti in the world in tombs in Egypt and labyrinths in Sudan, carved on stone walls of basilicas in Smyrna, mostly just say, so-and-so was here. It seems to be a universal compulsion to leave a mark. Still, I was glad that paper birch was safe from all of that out there, where it could drop its seeds to be carried on the water to some other fertile place.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
It seemed to me that planting a seed was a better way to leave a mark than carving out a scar. That lake scent of water and cold felt clear and clean in my nose and lungs. I kept walking. I was going all the way around the lake today It would take an hour or more, and that was fine with me. I passed a family walking with their dogs, and we smiled at each other behind our scarves.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
Their dogs looked built for cold weather, with thick fur and broad chests, and pulled their people forward. their eager paws digging into the snow like they were pulling a sleigh. The path turned back into the woods for a bit, and scattered across it were a few fallen branches from a pine tree. I think it is the very best scent in the world, fresh pine,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
And I felt so incredibly lucky to be just where I was right then. I nearly laughed aloud at how far my mood had shifted just by spending a little time outside. Walking in the snow felt a bit like walking in sand. And while I knew that was good therapy for my legs, I reminded myself I wasn't on a deadline and walked slower and spent more time just looking at the landscape.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
The lake came back into view, and here it was solid ice, geese and ducks walking and sitting on the surface. They honked and quacked at each other, or sat, unbothered by the cold, and turned their faces to the dim light of the sun behind the clouds. Among the mallards was one white farm duck.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
And I think it works best if you imagine yourself in it. So as you listen and follow along with the sound of my voice, pull the details of the story around you like a blanket. Before you know it, you'll be in deep, restorative sleep. I'll tell the story twice. If you wake in the middle of the night, you could listen again, or just pull those details back into your mind.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
Every year, I would look for him, a standout in the crowd and the only member of his flock I could identify. But still, I would eagerly search for him each spring. I hadn't found him this year and hoped he was just watering at another lake or that I was missing him by chance on my walks. Now, here he was, and I was so glad to see him.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
Maybe that's silly, or maybe it's the very best human instinct just to check on others, even strangers. to see that they have made it safely back home. I was more than halfway round the lake now, and came to a spot free from ice where the water flowed. There was a bridge made of stones and mortar that spanned a section of the lake where it split off into another,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
In the summer, you could look down to see a shoal of carp, each two or three feet long, with silver bellies floating lazily in the shallows. I stood listening to the water as it rushed under the bridge, dropping into the lower lake behind me. There's some magic about bridges, isn't there? It's where you fall in love at first sight in a movie.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
Where you stand to toss over a corked bottle with a secret inside, or pensively skim stones. And if you were walking across a bridge on a summer night, just as a bloom of fireworks streaked the sky above you, would you ever forget it? Whether it is made of steel girders 277 feet up, with tugboats and freighters passing underneath, or planks of creaking wood in a dense forest,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
or stones and mortar over hibernating carp. There is something about crossing a bridge that takes you out of your head and drops you right back into your body. I was nearing the end of my walk. Another ten minutes now and I'd be back to my car, I was warmed up from the exercise, but felt the chill in my feet and in the tip of my nose. I'd needed a tune-up, and I'd gotten one.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
All the Way Around the Lake (Encore)
I was recalibrated and ready to go back. I'd take off my layers and make a huge cup of hot chocolate. I'd settle down in my chair that faces the backyard. I'd lift the cup to my lips and blow at the steam and look out at the red glow behind the clouds and remind myself that even when I can't see it, the light is there. all the way around the lake.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
I was a full-time yoga teacher for over 20 years, and I know the power of intentional breathing. It's why our two deep breaths have been part of our bedtime routine since Episode 1. And that's why I want to introduce you to Moonbird.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
to roll the dice and mark down on the tiny pads of paper. If we thought it had been Professor Plum in the conservatory with a lead pipe, or Mrs. Peacock in the billiard room with the candlestick,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
Years later, when I was a teenager in the last year of high school, I'd been on a hike through the woods in the back acres of my grandparents' farm and found a tree with flat wooden rungs nailed into the trunk like a ladder. I'd looked up and seen a little house, a platform balancing on a broad branch with a few walls of mismatched lumber nailed together and a small square window cut out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
The wood was bleached by the sun. And when I reached up to test the strength of one of the rungs, it came apart in my hand. So, treehouses were real. Someone had made this one and played here. and though I couldn't climb up to see it myself, I bet there was, in a corner, under a pile of dried old leaves, a toy or a book or a box of treasures. Even now,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
I'm still looking for those little places to tuck into. Maybe less a clubhouse and more a nest. Today was a day like the one that had turned our ice house into slush. rain coming down over the crunchy drifts of snow that were slowly shrinking. Water ran off the roof, drumming in the gutters and rushing in rivulets down the sidewalk and into the storm drains. I'd wanted to get out for a walk,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
but it would be a chilly, muddy mess. And so I'd reframed my thoughts a bit. If I couldn't go out, could I make staying in even more tempting? Was I too old to make a pillow fort? It turned out I was not. I chuckled to myself as I took the cushions off the couch and spread a tartan blanket over the living room rug. It took a few tries, and I had fun along the way. But soon...
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
I had a little structure with cushions as walls. I got creative and wedged a broom between two chairs so it stood upright. Through the hole at the end of the broomstick, I threaded a strand of dental floss, which is sturdy stuff, by the way. When you need to hang something heavy, get thee to the medicine cabinet.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Catherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past. It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
And stretched it from the broom to a nail that usually held a painting behind the couch. Then I crossed my fingers and flung a top sheet over the floss. It made a draping cover, a tent to my little nest. I took the comforter from my bed and crawled inside with it, added more pillows and laid back and looked up at the tented ceiling. I let out a slow sigh.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
I felt a little giddy, so glad now to not be going out. I could stay in here all afternoon, but first, snacks. I wriggled back out, and padded to the kitchen, where the rain was thrumming against the window over the sink. The snow was shrinking fast. At this rate, we'd wake up tomorrow to bare lawns on clear roofs. My neighbor still had a few reindeer and a light-up snowman in his yard,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
And I had a feeling this weekend would be the one that saw a lot of us taking down our decorations and twinkle lights. I made myself a tray of treats. Apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon. A glass of grapefruit soda. and a bowl of those little peanut butter-filled pretzels. I slid my tray into my hideaway along with my book. I could watch movies, listen to music, read and nap.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
or just watch the light change through the walls of my fort. We would come out of hibernation soon, but not quite yet. Pillow forts and tree houses. When I was a kid, playing with my friends. It seemed like our constant ambition to build a fort, to make a clubhouse, somehow to create a space for ourselves.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
that could only be permeated by grownups when snacks were handed through a flap in the blankets. The best version of this dream we could imagine was a tree house. And I remember sketching out plans with the stub of a pencil in a spiral-bound notebook with most of the pages ripped out. As long as you're dreaming, you may as well dream big.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
So our treehouse would have retractable stairs to keep out siblings who might try to take over the place, as well as, um, maybe bears? We were kids. It made sense at the time. We'd have a fridge stocked with drinks and snacks. Where would we plug it in? Maybe a knot in the tree? Maybe we could figure out How to turn sap into electricity. Yeah, I'd make a note to invent that later.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
We'd have binoculars for spotting friends in their trees a few yards away. A slide, or better yet, a zip line. to carry us back down. And we'd hold our meetings up there. About what? You know, nine-year-old stuff. Very important. You wouldn't understand. We never achieved our ambition of a treehouse. the logistics quickly overwhelmed us.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
And since I'm a person... And not a computer. I sometimes sound just slightly different. But the stories are always soothing and family-friendly. And our wishes for you are always deep rest and sweet dreams. Now, let me say something about how this works. Your mind needs a place to rest. And without one, it's apt to race and wander and keep you up all night.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
And when our friends, who claimed to have a cousin in the country, who had one, we looked at them with a good deal of skepticism. Maybe tree houses were only in movies. or adventure stories. Still, we kept attempting to make forts whenever we could. The school canceled on one sunny snow day. We met up at the end of the block. where there was an empty lot full of knee-high snow.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
It was late winter, and the deep chill was giving over to slightly less frigid temps, so the snow packed together nicely. And we had a genius idea to shovel it into milk crates. The plastic kind with faded writing on the sides. All garages have them, though they aren't acquired in any way that I know.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
They just appear in a corner or on a shelf and get filled with battered softballs or swim goggles. We found when they were packed with the heavy snow, They turned out perfect blocks to build with. We shoveled a flat space and started to lay them. First a foundation and then rising walls.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
when the walls got to their third or fourth layer of blocks, we realized we'd forgotten to leave a space for a door and had fun kicking one out. Also, a ceiling stymied us. And as we started to make plans to swipe tarps from our sheds and basement, we got hungry and all trudged to the nearest of our houses to be fed soup and sandwiches while our snow pants dripped dry by the back door.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
Overnight, the snow turned to rain. And by morning, our ice palace was a lake with a few small square icebergs floating in it. I'm sure we hadn't just given up we changed tactics again. After all, what's better on a rainy day than a blanket fort? I'm sure we'd regrouped in someone's basement or living room and stacked couch cushions
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
and bed pillows into a frame and draped blankets and coverlets over the whole thing. We'd probably had enough room to set out a board game and huddle around it to roll the dice. and mark down on the tiny pads of paper. If we thought it had been Professor Plum in the conservatory with a lead pipe, or Mrs. Peacock in the billiard room with the candlestick,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
Years later, when I was a teenager in the last year of high school, I'd been on a hike through the woods in the back acres of my grandparents' farm and found a tree with flat wooden rungs nailed into the trunk like a ladder. I'd looked up and seen a little house, a platform balancing on a broad branch with a few walls of mismatched lumber nailed together and a small square window cut out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
The story I'm about to tell you is a landing spot. Let your attention linger on the sound of my voice and the soothing details of the story. Doing so will actually shift your brain activity. from default mode to task positive mode, which just means you'll be able to sleep. I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
The wood was bleached by the sun. And when I reached up to test the strength of one of the rungs, it came apart in my hand. So treehouses were real. Someone had made this one. and played here. And though I couldn't climb up to see it myself, I bet there was in a corner under a pile of dried old leaves a toy or a book or a box of treasures.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
Even now, I'm still looking for those little places to tuck into. Maybe less a clubhouse and more a nest. Today was a day like the one that had turned our ice house into slush. rain coming down over the crunchy drifts of snow that were slowly shrinking. Water ran off the roof, drumming in the gutters and rushing in rivulets down the sidewalk and into the storm drains.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
I'd wanted to get out for a walk, but it would be a chilly, muddy mess. And so I'd reframed my thoughts a bit. If I couldn't go out, could I make staying in even more tempting? Was I too old to make a pillow for it? It turned out I was not. I chuckled to myself as I took the cushions off the couch and spread a tartan blanket over the living room rug.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
Moonbird is a handheld breathing device designed to comfortably fit in the palm of your hand, which may help people living with stress, anxiety, insomnia, autism, ADHD, or burnout. When you shake it, it will start inflating and deflating. So in your hand, it will feel like you're holding a little bird that is breathing in and out. The only thing you need to do is breathe along with it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
It took a few tries and I had fun along the way. But soon I had a little structure with cushions as walls. I got creative and wedged a broom between two chairs. so it stood upright. Through the hole at the end of the broomstick, I threaded a strand of dental floss, which is sturdy stuff, by the way. When you need to hang something heavy, get thee to the medicine cabinet.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
And I stretched it from the broom to a nail that usually held a painting behind the couch. Then I crossed my fingers and flung a top sheet over the floss. It made a draping cover, a tent to my little nest. I took the comforter from my bed and crawled inside with it. Added more pillows and laid back and looked up at the tented ceiling. I let out a slow sigh. I felt a little giddy.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
So glad now to not be going out. I could stay in here all afternoon. But first, snacks. I wriggled back out and padded to the kitchen, where the rain was thrumming against the window over the sink. The snow was shrinking fast. At this rate, we'd wake up tomorrow to bare lawns and clear roofs. My neighbor still had a few reindeer and a light-up snowman in his yard.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
If you wake in the middle of the night, turn your thoughts right back to whatever you can remember about the story, or even just the details of a pleasant memory. and you will drop right back off. Our story tonight is called Pillow Forts and Tree Houses, and it's a story about a rainy afternoon tucked into a hideaway. It's also about the big ideas of children, a bowl of pretzels and apple slices,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
And I had a feeling this weekend would be the one that saw a lot of us taking down our decorations and twinkle lights. I made myself a tray of treats. apple slices sprinkled with cinnamon, a glass of grapefruit soda, and a bowl of those little peanut butter filled pretzels. I slid my tray into my hideaway along with my book.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
I could watch movies, listen to music, read and nap, or just watch the light change through the walls of my fort. We would come out of hibernation soon, but not quite yet. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
and remembering that you are never too old to enjoy a fort. Something I have gotten so much better at in the last few years is taking care of my body. lovingly nourishing myself, getting all the sleep I need. I even floss now. And Symbiotica products are a big part of this grown-up self-care.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
Whether you're trying to boost your energy and mood, improve digestion, or just function like a human, Symbiotica has something for you. I've been taking their vitamin C every day. In fact, my wife and I went on vacation and we packed their liquid travel-size packets in our carry-ons. It was truly the easiest thing I've done to keep up with my health. Symbiotica is as clean as it gets.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
No seed oils, preservatives, or artificial junk. Just high-quality, real ingredients that actually do something. I feel so good knowing I'm taking care of my body. Yeah, it's even better than flossing.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
It is always my first thought and priority in making this show. And sometimes you need extra help. Sometimes, even when your sleep hygiene is top tier, sleep doesn't come. Some nights, you might struggle to fall asleep. or wake after a few hours and toss and turn. I get it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
When perimenopause hit me like a wrecking ball, it threw my sleep cycles so far off course that I felt like a different person. And sleep breakthrough drink from Bioptimizers has really helped. I fall asleep when I want to, and I sleep through the night without that 3 a.m. panic wake-up that had been haunting me. When I wake in the morning, I feel good, not groggy. I'm rested. My days are better.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
Bioptimizers has flexible dosing, which I really like. My wife needs just a little bit, and I take a little more. And for folks looking for an option without melatonin, this is it. Ready to transform your sleep and wake up feeling refreshed. Visit bioptimizers.com slash nothingmuch and use code nothingmuch for 10% off any order. Don't settle for another restless night, my friends.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
Try Sleep Breakthrough Drink risk-free with Bioptimizers 365-day money-back guarantee. And this is all in our show notes if you forget. Visit buyoptimizers.com slash nothingmuch and use code nothingmuch for 10% off any order.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
Put down whatever you've been looking at and switch off the light. Slide down deep into your sheets. And make your body as comfortable as it can be. There's nothing you need to stay on top of. No one is waiting. And you have done enough for today. You're safe. Take a slow breath in through your nose. And let it out with a sigh. Nice. Do one more. In and out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
When I was a kid, playing with my friends, it seemed like our constant ambition to build a fort, to make a clubhouse, somehow to construct a space for ourselves that could only be permeated by grownups when snacks were handed through a flap in the blankets. The best version of this dream we could imagine was a treehouse.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
When moonbird inflates, you breathe in. When Moonbird deflates, you breathe out. Simple, intuitive, it takes all the effort and thinking out of your breathing exercises. It's the perfect companion to your bedtime ritual. Or use it when you're meditating, when you're stuck in traffic, anytime you need an assist in feeling calm and focused.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
And I remember sketching out plans with the stub of a pencil in a spiral-bound notebook with most of the pages ripped out. As long as you're dreaming, you may as well dream big. So our treehouse would have retractable stairs to keep out siblings who might try to take over the place, as well as, um, maybe bears? We were kids. It made sense at the time.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
We'd have a fridge stocked with drinks and snacks. Where would we plug it in? Maybe a knot in the tree? Maybe we could figure out how to turn sap into electricity? Yeah, I'd make a note to invent that later. We'd have binoculars for spotting friends in their trees a few yards away. a slide or, better yet, a zip line to carry us back down. And we'd hold our meetings up there. About what?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
You know, nine-year-old stuff. Very important. You wouldn't understand. We never achieved our ambition of a treehouse. the logistics quickly overwhelmed us, and when our friends, who claimed to have a cousin in the country who had one, we looked at them with a good deal of skepticism. Maybe treehouses were only in movies or adventure stories. Still,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
We kept attempting to make forts wherever we could. With school canceled on one sunny snow day, we met up at the end of the block where there was an empty lot full of knee-high snow. It was late winter. and the deep chill was giving over to slightly less frigid temps.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
So the snow packed together nicely, and we had a genius idea to shovel it into milk crates, the plastic kind with faded writing on the sides. All garages have them, though they aren't acquired in any way that I know. They just appear in a corner or on a shelf and get filled with battered softballs or swim goggles.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
We found when they were packed with heavy snow, they turned out perfect blocks to build with. We shoveled a flat space and started to lay them. First a foundation and then rising walls. When the walls got to their third or fourth layer of blocks, we realized we'd forgotten to leave a space for the door and had fun kicking one out. Also, a ceiling stymied us.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
Listen, I know how to breathe to feel better, but still I use Moonbird because when my mind is racing or wandering, I need a little guidance and it makes my deep breathing more effective. So when you wake in the middle of the night, don't reach for your phone, unless it's to restart your bedtime story. That's fine. Reach for Moonbird. Visit moonbird.life slash nothingmuchhappens to save 20%.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
And as we started to make plans to swipe tarps from our sheds and basements, we got hungry and all trudged to the nearest of our houses to be fed soup and sandwiches while our snow pants dripped dry by the back door. Overnight, the snow turned to rain. And by morning, our ice palace was a lake, with a few small, square icebergs floating in it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Pillow Forts & Tree Houses (Encore)
I'm sure we hadn't given up, just changed tactics again. After all, what's better on a rainy day than a blanket fort? I'm sure we'd regrouped in someone's basement or living room and stacked couch cushions and bed pillows into a frame and draped blankets and coverlets over the whole thing. We'd probably had enough room to set out a board game and huddle around it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
I'd come back later to clip a few of the seed pods, and they'd stayed in the pocket, in this journal, in this box, tucked into the closet, just waiting for me to find them again. A little message for my younger self, to me today, about how exciting life can be, about how moments can stick and warm you through years later. Keep safe. It had started as a hunt for a particular pair of socks.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
They were thick and warm, and I felt pretty sure they were dark gray with snowflakes on them. But I hadn't seen them in a while. They went all the way up to my knees. And when I just couldn't get my feet warm in the cold days of winter, they always did the trick. But they didn't seem to be anywhere. I went through my dresser drawers.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
Doing so shifts your brain out of default mode, and when that happens, you'll fall right back to sleep. This is brain training, and it does take a bit of practice, so have some patience if you are new to this. Our story tonight is called Keepsake. And it's a story about stepping back through time to remember a particular rainy day.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
then searched the basket of lone socks on the shelf in the laundry room, hoping that maybe they had been separated in the wash and were happily reunited, just waiting to be rolled into a ball to spend some quality time together. but they weren't there either. That led me to the hall closet, which didn't seem like a likely place for them to end up, but was worth a try.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
And as soon as I opened the door, I fell under the spell of curiosity and nostalgia. Has this happened to you? You go up to the attic to get the extra leaf for the table, or down into the basement to bring up the giant soup pot. that you only use a couple of times a year. And somewhere along the way, a box catches your eye.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
And before you know it, you're sitting on the floor with old school papers in your hands and a fan of grainy photographs spread out around you. Sometimes you get caught. Someone comes looking for you and all you can do is shrug your shoulders and hold up the program to a play you'd seen 20 years before and say, do you remember this? Well,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
That's what happened to me, standing in the doorway of the hall closet. My chilly feet forgotten as I reached up on tiptoe to slide a shoebox off the top shelf. It wasn't labeled. I don't know why I reached for it. except that part of me must have remembered it. The lid looked like it came from a different box and didn't fit on properly.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
Letters and pictures were pushing their way out, lifting it off. My face broke open in a sudden smile. Small treasures, scraps of paper, a key chain from a roadside store a thousand miles from here. It's strange. How you can go years without looking at things like this. Mementos and scribbled notes. But then, when you see them again, you remember everything about them.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
An envelope with a phone number scrawled across it. The smudged printing on a flyer for a concert. Movie stubs curling at the edges from the weeks they spent in a pocket before they went into a box. I could remember who that number belonged to. The telephone pole. flyer down from, and the shoes I'd worn to the movie. Behind that first box was another and another.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
It's also about sunflowers, the things our younger selves can teach us, and a scrap of something saved for years in a box. Now, turn off your light. Put away anything you've been looking at or playing with. Get as comfortable as you can. You have done enough for the day. It is enough. And now you are safe. And all that is left is for you to rest. Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
I pulled them all down and carried them to my bedroom. where I could curl up with my blankets as I reminisce. I found a friendship bracelet from summer camp, and I remembered how we would knot the strings onto safety pins and then fasten the pins onto our jeans or shorts. so we could pull the strings taut while we braided.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
It had taken five minutes to learn, and then we'd become bracelet-making machines, swapping for favorite colors. and pulling out our projects as soon as dinner was eaten. Braiding and nodding until we couldn't see what we were doing in the twilight. And then, we'd probably forgotten all about it a week or two later.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
when we learned how to make pinch pots in the ceramics shed, or to fletch arrows, or build rock cairns on our afternoon hikes. Young brains, I thought jealously as I tied the bracelet awkwardly around my wrist. They're like magnets, sweeping through a field of precious metals, collecting skills and ideas with ease. Not that my older brain wasn't capable of picking up new things.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
After all, who had just learned to ice skate backwards fairly reliably? Me was the answer. Maybe I was a faster learner when I was younger. But now I was a better understander. I could see from angles I just didn't know about then. In one of the boxes, I found photos of myself as a child, blowing out five candles on a cake, standing in Grandpa's garden beside his sunflowers.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
to show how they'd grown twice as tall as me, riding my bike without training wheels. I carried the sunflower picture into the bathroom and fitted it into the corner of the mirror. thinking that remembering my young, sweet self each morning when I brushed my teeth might lead me to stay kind to her all day.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
Back on the bed, I flipped through pictures of my middle school years, playing in the school band, my best friend and I, dressed identically as some joke. A shot of me looking out of the window of the car on our way to a summer vacation with a book forgotten in my hand. At the bottom of the stack was a small, bound journal,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
the kind that comes with built-in pockets in the cover, which I remembered carrying with me nearly every day in high school. There were pages of poetry. I didn't read them, thinking it was probably best just to remember that I liked to write it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
that at the time it had seemed terribly important and gripping and probably revolutionary, a thing the world had never heard before, and that that feeling, rather than the actual poems, was who I was then. In the margins were lyrics from favorite songs, written out in sticky blue ink. There were lines from movies and quotes that had spun my young head around. A list of places I would travel to,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
places I was sure I would live, and all the books I had read one summer. I flipped all the way to the pocket in the back cover of the journal. It looked empty, but when I pried it open, there were a few small, transparent bits. like ovals of wax paper. It took me a moment to recognize them, and then another to remember why I'd saved them.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
They were seed pods, about the size of quarters, silvery, too. and with tiny round seeds still in each one. They grew on a plant called Lunaria, or sometimes called a money tree, and the pods grew beside purple flowers in the summertime and could be cut and dried by hanging them upside down somewhere. I tipped them onto my hand and felt my breath go deep with the memory of this moment.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
And out through your mouth. Nice. One more. In. And out. Good. Keepsake. It had started as a hunt for a particular pair of socks. They were thick and warm, and I felt pretty sure that they were dark gray with snowflakes on them, but I hadn't seen them in a while. They went all the way up to my knees, and when I just couldn't get my feet warm in the cold days of winter, They always did the trick.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
They had been drying in a small potting shed on the far corner of our property. where the land dropped down toward the creek. We'd been out walking on a cool October day, as far as we could along one side of the creek, and then, where a fallen tree lay across the stream, had crossed it to walk on the other side.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
We weren't trying to get anywhere, just spending time in the way of teenagers who can't get enough of it. And it had felt like no time at all. And then a sudden gust of cold wind and rain came hammering through the leaves. and we jumped from one muddy bank to another and climbed the hill back toward the house.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
We'd come up right behind the shed, and the rain was so heavy that we just pulled open the door and taken shelter inside. It had smelled like drying eucalyptus and unvarnished wood. And the rain was wonderfully loud on the tiny roof. We could see our breath in the air. And that had been my first kiss, in wet clothes, with muddy boots, under a clutch of Lunaria stems.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
I'd come back later to clip a few of the seedpods, and they'd stayed in the pocket of this journal in this box, tucked into the closet, just waiting for me to find them again. A little message from my younger self to me today about how exciting life can be. about how moments can stick and warm you through years later. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
But they didn't seem to be anywhere. I went through my dresser drawers, then searched the basket of lone socks on the shelf in the laundry room, hoping that maybe they had been separated in the wash. and were happily reunited, just waiting to be rolled into a ball to spend some quality time together. But they weren't there either.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
That led me to the hall closet, which didn't seem like a likely place for them to end up, but it was worth a try. And as soon as I opened the door, I fell under the spell of curiosity and nostalgia. Has this happened to you? You go up to the attic to get the extra leaf for the table, or down into the basement to bring up the giant soup pot that you only use a couple of times a year.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
And somewhere along the way, a box catches your eye. And before you know it, you're sitting on the floor with old school papers in your hands and a fan of grainy photographs spread out around you. Sometimes you get caught. Someone comes looking for you. And all you can do is shrug your shoulders and hold up the program to a play you'd seen 20 years before and say, do you remember this?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
Well, that's what happened to me. Standing in the doorway of the hall closet, my chilly feet forgotten, as I reached up on tiptoe to slide a shoebox off the top shelf. It wasn't labeled. I don't know why I reached for it, except that part of me must have remembered it. The lid looked like it came from a different box. Letters and pictures were pushing their way out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location. And since I'm a person... and not a computer. I sometimes sound just slightly different, but the stories are always soothing and family-friendly, and our wishes for you are always deep rest and sweet dreams. Now let me say a little about how to use this podcast. I have a story to tell you, and it exists, really,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
Lifting it off, my face broke open in a sudden smile. Small treasures, scraps of paper, a keychain from a roadside store a thousand miles from here. It's strange how you can go years without looking at things like this. Mementos and scribbled notes. But then when you see them again, you remember everything about them. An envelope with a phone number scrawled across it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
The smudged printing on a flyer for a concert. movie stubs curling at the edges from the weeks they'd spent in a pocket before they went into a box. I could remember who that number belonged to, the telephone pole I'd tugged the flyer down from, and the shoes I'd worn to the movie. Behind that first box was another and another,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
I pulled them all down and carried them to my bedroom, where I could curl up with my blankets as I reminisced. I found a friendship bracelet from summer camp, and I remembered how we would knot the strings onto safety pins, and then fasten the pins onto our jeans or shorts. so we could pull the strings taut while we braided.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
It had taken five minutes to learn, and then we'd become bracelet-making machines, swapping for favorite colors and pulling out our projects as soon as dinner was eaten, braiding and knotting until we couldn't see what we were doing in the twilight.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
And then we'd probably forgotten all about it a week or two later, when we learned how to make pinch pots in the ceramic shed, or to fletch arrows, or build rock cairns on our afternoon hikes. Young brains, I thought jealously, as I tied the bracelet awkwardly around my wrist. They're like magnets sweeping through a field of precious metals, collecting skills and ideas with ease.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
Not that my older brain wasn't capable of picking up new things. After all, who had just learned to ice skate backwards fairly reliably? Me was the answer. Maybe I was a faster learner when I was younger, but now I was a better understander. I could see from angles I just didn't know about then. In one of the boxes, I found photos of myself as a child, blowing out five candles on a cake.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
standing in Grandpa's garden beside his sunflowers, to show how they'd grown twice as tall as me, riding my bike without training wheels. I carried the sunflower picture into the bathroom and fitted it into the corner of the mirror, thinking that remembering my young, sweet self each morning when I brushed my teeth might lead me to stay kind to her all day.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
Back on the bed, I flipped through pictures of my middle school years, playing in the school band, my best friend and I dressed identically as some joke. a shot of me looking out of the window of the car on our way to a summer vacation with a book forgotten in my hand. At the bottom of the stack was a small bound journal, the kind that comes with built-in pockets in the cover.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
which I remembered carrying with me nearly every day in high school. There were pages of poetry. I didn't read them, thinking it was probably best just to remember that I had liked to write it, but at the time it had seemed terribly important and gripping. and probably revolutionary, a thing the world had never heard before, and that that feeling, rather than the actual poems, was who I was then.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
simply as a soft place to rest your mind. I'll read it twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through. Just follow along with my voice and the simple shape of the story. And before you know it, you'll be deeply asleep. If you wake in the middle of the night, you could listen again, or just think back through any details from the story that you can remember.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
In the margins were lyrics from favorite songs, written out in sticky blue ink. There were lines from movies, quotes that had spun my young head around. A list of places I would travel to, places I was sure I would live, and all the books I had read one summer. I flipped all the way to the pocket in the back cover of the journal. It looked empty,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
when I pried it open, there were a few small, transparent bits, like ovals of wax paper. It took me a moment to recognize them, and then another to remember why I'd saved them. They were seed pods, about the size of quarters. silvery too, and with tiny round seeds still in each one.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
They grew on a plant called Lunaria, or sometimes called a money tree, and the pods grew beside purple flowers in the summertime and could be cut and dried by hanging them upside down somewhere. I tipped them onto my hand and felt my breath go deep with the memory of this moment.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
They had been drying in a small potting shed on the far corner of our property, where the land dropped down toward the creek. We'd been out walking on a cool October day, as far as we could along one side of the creek. And then, where a fallen tree lay across the stream, I'd crossed it to walk on the other side.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
We weren't trying to get anywhere, just spending time in the way of teenagers who can't get enough of it. and it had felt like no time at all. And then a sudden gust of wind and rain came hammering through the leaves, and we jumped from one muddy bank to another and climbed the hill back toward the house. We'd come up right behind the shed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Keepsake (Encore)
and the rain was so heavy that we just pulled open the door and took shelter inside. It had smelled like drying eucalyptus and unvarnished wood, and the rain was wonderfully loud on the tiny roof. We could see our breath in the air, and that had been my first kiss, in wet clothes, with muddy boots, under a clutch of Lunaria stems.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
Soon we had a stack of books with torn out magazine articles folded into the pages, charts of what was going where and when, and a dusty basket of the tools we'd need to make it happen.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
If you wake later in the night, you could listen again or just think back through what you can remember of the story. We're doing a bit of brain training with this ritual, helping to make a habit of calm focus before bed. So each time you do it, it will become more natural and even more relaxing.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
Our story tonight is called Spring at the Allotment, and it's a story about setting up a garden of herbs and vegetables with a friend. It's also about a picnic basket full of sandwiches, turning over the soil with your hands, and the pleasure of sowing seeds in neat rows on a bright, sunny day. Something I have gotten so much better at in the last few years is taking care of my body.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
I had a few apples for us and a whole batch of my date bars, topped with cardamom crumble, tucked in wax paper in an old cookie tin.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
They had two little boys who ran around in the sun, coming back to the table for a moment or two to take a bite out of a sandwich or a piece of fruit, then chasing back to play.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
By the time we were done and gathering up our tools, our little plot was a tidy patch of neat rows, careful mounds protecting seeds that would sprout soon, and evenly spaced plants.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
I guess we'd better learn how to can, I laughed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
lovingly nourishing myself, getting all the sleep I need. I even floss now. And Symbiotica products are a big part of this grown-up self-care. Whether you're trying to boost your energy and mood, improve digestion, or just function like a human, Symbiotica has something for you. I've been taking their vitamin C every day.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
In fact, my wife and I went on vacation, and we packed their liquid travel-size packets in our carry-ons. It was truly the easiest thing I've done to keep up with my health. Symbiotica is as clean as it gets. No seed oils, preservatives, or artificial junk. Just high-quality, real ingredients that actually do something. I feel so good knowing I'm taking care of my body.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
Yeah, it's even better than flossing. Symbiotica. Symbiotica. Wellness made simple. Go to symbiotica.com slash nothingmuch for 20% off plus free shipping. That's symbiotica.com slash nothingmuch for 20% off plus free shipping.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
Now take a slow breath in through your nose and sigh out of your mouth. Let's do one more. In and out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
I'd been coming out of my neighborhood market, a bag of groceries in my arms, and seen it pinned to a bulletin board. Community Garden.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
I stood for a bit, booted, mittened, zipped into my heavy coat, and wrapped in scarves and hat, and dreamed about green things and blue skies. I'd reached out with my clumsy mitten and pulled off a scrap from the flyer with a phone number and fumbled it into my pocket.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
We, each of us, had a few hand-me-down garden tools, and just a little bit of experience. But we also had a deep yen for becoming successful gardeners.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location. And since I'm a person... and not a computer. I sometimes sound just slightly different, but the stories are always soothing and family-friendly, and our wishes for you are always deep rest and sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
And I'd have a long talk with my green-thumbed grandfather and borrow his almanac and seed catalogs.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
Soon we had a stack of books, with torn-out magazine articles folded into the pages, charts of what was going where and when, and a dusty basket of the tools we'd need to make it happen.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
The day was bright and warming, and stepping out of the car I could smell the clean scent of freshly tilled earth. We found our plot, sketched out in the soil with stakes and string, shook hands with the neighbors, tucked our hair into bandanas, and got to work. The soil was tilled and soft, but still needed to be evened out, and we broke up clumps of dirt with hands and hoes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
We consulted our charts and walked off the sections.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
Here, rows of lettuce. Here, tomato plants. In the back row, we'd have a line of sweet corn, a section of zucchini, a few broccoli plants, cabbage, cucumbers, and a small section of potatoes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
But we'd done our reading and had a container of cut seed potatoes ready to go in. Growing anything, I supposed, was a gamble, an act of faith that rain would come, that sun would shine, that the natural processes buried in the cells of our seeds and seedlings would activate and pollinate. It seemed worth the gamble, meriting the faith to try
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
So we dug trenches, spaced our seeds and plants, and carefully padded the earth down around them.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
I stood to stretch my back and saw my friend, her hands on her hips, looking out at the work we'd done. Ready for a break, I called out. Yes, please, she said, stepping carefully through the rows to wash her hands at the spigot.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
I'd made a mess of sandwiches, thick slices of sourdough, spread with mustard, and a tasty mix I'd made of mashed garbanzos, soft avocado, diced cucumbers and pickles, tahini, a bit of dill and lemon and plenty of salt and pepper.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
I had a few apples for us and a whole batch of my date bars, topped with a cardamom crumble, tucked in wax paper in an old cookie tin.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
They had two little boys who ran around in the sun, coming back to the table for a moment or two to take a bite out of a sandwich or a piece of fruit, then chasing back to play.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
By the time we were done and gathering up our tools, our little plot was a tidy patch of neat rows. Careful mounds protecting seeds that would sprout soon, and evenly spaced plants that would eventually need cages and stakes and strings to hold them up by the end of the summer.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
It was decorated with someone's hand-drawn flowers and baskets of vegetables. I stood for a bit, booted, mittened, zipped into my heavy coat and wrapped in scarves and hat, and dreamed about green things and blue skies. I'd reached out with my clumsy mitten and pulled off a scrap from the flyer with a phone number.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Spring at the Allotment (Encore)
A few days later, when a friend was sitting at my kitchen table for a cup of coffee, I'd pulled it out, and we'd made a plan.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Your neighborhood cozy bedtime system
This is a test of your neighborhood cozy bedtime system. This is only a test. Hey friends, we are working out some kinks in our publishing protocol. And since I need to jump into your feed to do that, I thought I would read you a lovely poem by the goddess that was Mary Oliver. When she wrote Pay Attention, Be Amazed, Tell About It, I took it as a job description that I felt compelled to fill.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Your neighborhood cozy bedtime system
Here is her poem, When I Am Among the Trees. When I am among the trees, especially the willows and the honey locust, equally the beach, the oaks and the pines. They give off such hints of gladness. I would almost say that they save me, and daily. I am so distant from the hope of myself, in which I have goodness and discernment, and never hurry through the world, but walk slowly and bow often.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Your neighborhood cozy bedtime system
Around me, the trees stir in their leaves and call out. Stay a while. The light flows from their branches. And they call again. It's simple, they say. And you too have come into the world to do this. To go easy. To be filled with light. And to shine. This concludes our test of your neighborhood cozy bedtime system.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
I care about your sleep. It is always my first thought and priority in making this show. And sometimes you need extra help. Sometimes, even when your sleep hygiene is top tier, sleep doesn't come. Some nights, you might struggle to fall asleep. or wake after a few hours and toss and turn. I get it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
Try Sleep Breakthrough Drink risk-free with Bioptimizers 365-day money-back guarantee. And this is all in our show notes if you forget. Visit bioptimizers.com slash nothingmuch and use code nothingmuch for 10% off any order.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
at the sound of the door opening, the squirrel, who was still teasing Marm and Crumb in the window, finally decided he'd probably pushed his luck as far as it could safely go and ran a few feet up the nearest tree. Bird paid no mind to him. just lumbered down the steps to find a patch of sunlight to stretch out in.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
Crumb came hurtling out of the house behind us, and I could see by the look in his eyes that he really thought he had a chance of catching up with his little harasser. Oh, bless, I mumbled as I carried the dust mop over to the compost pile near the fence and started shaking it out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
Bird's eyes were already shut, his long legs stretched out in the new grass. Crumb still barked around the base of the tree, his little limbs bouncing him up and down. And Marmalade was once again stretched out on her sill.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
She was an indoor cat who, every year, had a few carefully chaperoned visits. into the back garden.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
just a kitten, leaving tiny paw prints in the flakes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
if she were some kind of rambling rolling stone who wouldn't want to settle down. But those fears were quickly allayed. As soon as she discovered the delights of a crackling fire and ear rubs on the sofa, She was happy to leave the outside outside.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
A squirrel dashed across the yard. and her eyes sprang open, sensing him.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
She sat up and pressed her nose to the screen, watching as the squirrel teased her by running closer.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
If this were a cartoon, he would have pulled out an emery board and begun filing his nails.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
I'd been running the dust mop along the floorboards, watching this drama unfold, and rolled my eyes, as I fished a brown dust bunny from far back under the sofa. If it were a little bigger, I might have expected it to start barking and jumping. It was clearly made of crumb fur, Our scruffy, small pooch, who had more energy than the rest of us put together, was shedding in the warm weather.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
We give to a different charity each week, and this week we are giving to Be Heard Movement. Be Heard offers a range of essential services, unhoused individuals, including private showers, access to clean and fresh laundry services, haircuts, and more. You can learn more in our show notes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
It reminded me to make an appointment with the groomer, and as he came around the corner, racing through my dustpile, I told him so. Haircut next week, Mr. Crumbles, I said. He didn't seem to care or notice. Instead, he jumped his front paws up beside Marmalade and began barking at the squirrel.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
as they shared this moment of sibling excitement. For a while, it had just been Marmalade and me, and she was a mama's girl.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
while she occasionally feigned being too cool for dogs, the truth was that she adored him. Not in the same way that he adored her. He came with wild love, the bull you overtype. She came with gentle love, the lick-your-face-at-the-end-of-the-day type.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
He was, a bit, her baby, and she watched over him, reassured him when thunder crashed, meowed at him when he got late-night zoomies, telling him to go to sleep. Upstairs, I heard the click of greyhound toenails on the floor.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
I was on floor duty downstairs, and their dad was on bedroom duty upstairs. and I was pretty sure that he'd just gotten to changing the sheets, meaning Bird, our rescued hound, and the sleepiest boy you've ever met, had just been evicted from the bed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
And of course, you can subscribe to our premium version, which is ad-free and overflowing with bonus episodes for a very affordable 10 cents a day. But did you know that if you can't swing that and could really use some extra nothing much, we have a pay-it-forward fund set up. Your fellow listeners donate, and then you can ask to receive a subscription for free.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
I could feel his heart beating and the light touch of his breath on my shoulder.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
Each of these souls, so much, it sometimes brought tears to my eyes. And I wiped them away, reminding myself that while there was nothing wrong with the tenderness it brought up, they were here with me now,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
As I opened the door, the squirrel, who was still teasing Marm and Crumb in the window, finally decided he'd pushed his luck as far as it could safely go. and ran a few feet up the nearest tree. Bird paid no mind to him, just lumbered down the steps to find a patch of sunlight to stretch out in. Crumb came hurtling out of the house behind us,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
And I could see by the look in his eyes that he really thought he had a chance of catching up with his little harasser. Oh, bless, I mumbled as I carried the dust mop over to the compost pile and started shaking it out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
Crumb still barked around the base of the tree, his little limbs bouncing him up and down.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
There's no need to explain your situation. Just tell us you'd like the gift of a membership, and we'll do the rest. If you'd like to learn more, or to donate to the fund, visit the Pay It Forward link in our notes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
A simple and pleasant way to occupy it, so that it doesn't wander away and keep you up. All you need to do is listen.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
Or just think your way back through any part of the story that you can remember.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
When perimenopause hit me like a wrecking ball, it threw my sleep cycles so far off course that I felt like a different person. And sleep breakthrough drink from Bioptimizers has really helped. I fall asleep when I want to, and I sleep through the night without that 3 a.m. panic wake-up that had been haunting me. When I wake in the morning, I feel good, not groggy. I'm rested. My days are better.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
Our story tonight is called Dogs and Dust Mops, and it's a story about some spring cleaning on a warm afternoon. It's also about an orange kitty in the window, the sound of the vacuum running upstairs, fresh sheets, scrabbling paws on the deck.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
Let's take a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. Nice. Let's do that again. Breathe in and out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
We had all the windows open with fresh air moving through the house and the sound of lawnmowers and talking neighbors echoing from a few doors down. Marmalade, my regal orange cat, was wedged into one of the open windows, her round body pressed against the screen, and her silky fur sticking through the mesh.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
And I knew if I lay a hand on her back, she would start to purr almost instantly. She was an indoor cat who, every year, had a few carefully chaperoned visits into the back garden. A few bike rides buckled into her cat trailer, and a few impromptu walks to the mailbox tucked into my arms.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
I'd found her out in the snow a few years back, just a kitten leaving tiny paw prints in the flakes. And I'd wondered, when she'd first stepped into my house, if it would be difficult to keep her in, if she'd want out again. If she were some kind of ramblin' rolling stone, I wouldn't want to settle down.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
As soon as she'd discovered the delights of a crackling fire, an ear rubs on the sofa, She'd been happy to leave the outside outside.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
her lazy, docile attitude suddenly shifted. She sat up, pressed her nose to the screen, watching as the squirrel teased her by running closer, flapping his fluffy tail, and generally acting unbothered. If this were a cartoon, he would have pulled out an emery board and begun filing his nails. Marmee began chattering and clicking at him.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
An empty threat, for sure, but one she felt compelled to issue. I'd been running the dust mop along the floorboards watching this drama unfold and rolled my eyes as I fished a brown dust bunny from far back under the sofa. If it were a little bigger, I might have expected it to start barking and jumping It was clearly made of crumb fur.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
Bioptimizers has flexible dosing, which I really like. My wife needs just a little bit, and I take a little more. And for folks looking for an option without melatonin, this is it. Ready to transform your sleep and wake up feeling refreshed. Visit bioptimizers.com slash nothingmuch and use code nothingmuch for 10% off any order. Don't settle for another restless night, my friends.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
Our scruffy, small pooch, who had more energy than the rest of us put together, was shedding in the warm weather. It reminded me to make an appointment with the groomer. And as he came around the corner, racing through my dustpile, I told him so. Haircut next week, Mr. Crumbles, I said. He didn't seem to care or notice. Instead, he jumped his front paws up beside Marmalade.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
I liked watching their backs, shoulder to shoulder, as they shared this moment of sibling excitement. For a while, it had just been Marmalade and me, and she was a mama's girl.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
She came with gentle love. The lick your face at the end of the day type. He was a bit her baby when she watched over him. Reassured him when the thunder crashed. meowed at him when he got late-night zoomies, told him to go to sleep. Upstairs, I heard the click of greyhound toenails on the floors, and I chuckled, imagining what was happening.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
I was on floor duty downstairs, and their dad was on bedroom duty upstairs, and I was pretty sure he'd just gotten to changing the sheets. bird, our rescued hound, the sleepiest boy you've ever met, had just been evicted from the bed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
He was calm and thoughtful, stood back while Crumb tore his toys to bits. or marmy strutted through the kitchen.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Dogs & Dust Mops
I love my family so much, Each of these souls, so much, had sometimes brought tears to my eyes. I wiped them away, reminding myself that while there was nothing wrong with the tenderness it had brought up, they were here with me now,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Catherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. with audio engineering by Bob Wittersheim. We give to a different charity each week. And this week, we are giving to Make-A-Wish Foundation. They create life-changing wishes for children.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
And I could already imagine myself plating up a square of spice cake or ladling out my mushroom wild rice soup and handing it over to a friend to enjoy. Suddenly I was looking forward to the months of winter yet to come as I carefully stacked some plates and began carrying them over to the register. I'd found a way, as I couldn't get out of it, to get into it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
They sell, oh, a variety of things.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
There are a few old chandeliers hanging from their tall ceilings.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
Each time I passed by on my way to pick up the books I'd ordered from the bookshop or to get dinner rolls from the bakery, I'd pause in my haste and stare in through their windows. making a little promise to myself that after all the business of the holidays was over, I would treat myself to a visit there.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
And before you know it, you'll be waking up tomorrow, feeling rested and relaxed. I'll tell the story twice. And I'll go a little slower the second time through. This is a form of brain training. So know that regular use improves the results. Our story tonight is called Plates and Bowls. And it's a story about keeping a promise to yourself after the bustle of the holidays has settled down.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
and saw that downtown was not busy, that parking spaces abounded, and that there were open booths at the diner, several small shops showing signs that they wouldn't even be open again till the new year.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
I tend to borrow a bit too much from my environment sometimes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
I smiled as I turned toward the shop. Of course it was. We still had months of winter ahead of us.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
A reminder to enjoy where you can, what you can.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
I pulled open the door to the shop.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
All those times I'd passed by before, there had been one section that always drew my eyes. A long table full of dishes, stacks of different patterns of plates and bowls.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
And I'd saved up a little stash for this.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
I would need to feel the weight of the plates, the finish and texture of the soup bowls and the spoon rest to know what I wanted.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
And even though I was pretty sure those weren't the ones I would choose, I still took my time, lifting a few pieces, turning them over in my hands.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
They had a very elegant stamp on their bottoms, a company name that I recognized as being old and respected, and their rims felt delicate and sharp. knowing my own propensity to drop and bump things. I imagined these would only last a few dinners in my house.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
It's also about a quiet, clean environment. that brings some ease. Coffee cups and spoon rests, smooth porcelain and hand-painted ceramics, and finding ways to celebrate the everyday.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
They had a handmade, imperfect feel, and were painted with daubs of bright color against a pale blue background.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
But both of these styles had helped me whittle down my ideas on what I wanted.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
Not so perfect and elegant that they couldn't withstand regular use. and not so homemade and rustic that their aesthetic overwhelmed the food itself.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
And I could already imagine myself plating up a square of spice cake or ladling out my mushroom and wild rice soup and handing it over to a friend
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
Suddenly I was looking forward to the months of winter yet to come as I carefully stacked some plates and began carrying them over to the register.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
Snuggle down and feel your whole body relaxing into your bed. Maybe this is a moment you've been looking forward to all day.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
Draw a deep breath in through your nose and sigh it out. One more time. Breathe in. And sigh.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
There is a little shop in downtown whose window I have been looking through. each time I pass by.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
They have a few shelves of fancy salts and olive oils. Candies and chocolates you can't find in the grocery store. And jams made of fruits I've never seen in person. There are a few old chandeliers hanging from their tall ceilings. And the light in there is warm and inviting. There's music playing, barely loud enough to hear.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
And all through the month of December, each time I passed by, on my way to pick up the books I'd ordered from the bookshop or to get dinner rolls from the bakery, I'd pause in my haste and stare in through their windows. making a little promise to myself that after all the business of the holidays was over, I would treat myself to a visit there. And listen, I enjoy the holidays.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
I love the lights and the gatherings, the food and the music.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
So today, on this snowy afternoon, with no errands to run, No party to go to later. I was keeping my promise to myself. When I turned onto the main street and saw that downtown was not busy, that parking spaces abounded, and that there were open booths at the diner. Several small shops showing signs that they wouldn't even be open again till the new year. I sighed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
I actually felt my own shoulders soften on my back. my grip on the steering wheel relax a bit. I tend to borrow a bit too much from my environment sometimes. A busy place can make me feel busy. A crowded street, a noisy restaurant, a cramped aisle in a grocery store, can all leave me feeling simply too much.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
Learn more in our show notes. I appreciate you listening to this little bit of housekeeping at the beginning of our Eps. We want to help you at bedtime and during the day. So we created a daytime version of the show called Stories from the Village of Nothing Much. We've also partnered on a project to make weighted pillows you can hug and to settle your nervous system.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
And while I was working on carrying my own calm, a deep well of quiet that couldn't run out inside of me, it was a work in progress, and I let the nearly empty street gift me some ease.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
It had been sunny earlier, that energizing blast of winter sun that gets you moving even in the cold. but clouds had begun to move in, and I wondered if more snow was on its way. I smiled as I turned toward the shop.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
We still had months of winter ahead of us. Might as well welcome it. It was something a friend of mine said. When you can't get out of it, get into it. A reminder to enjoy where you can, what you can. And that was what I was going to do right now.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
I guess it could be called a kitchen shop, but that didn't seem to do it justice. And stepped into the warmth and glowing lights. All those times I'd passed by before, there had been one section that always drew my eyes. a long table full of dishes, stacks of different patterns of plates and bowls, gravy boats and water pitchers. I am a sucker for dishes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
My grandmother had one set for every day and one for special occasions. And they lasted her for many decades. But I am not built like that. When I can afford it, I like to switch them out. To have a new set to serve my meals on. And I'd saved up a little stash for this. My own holiday gift to myself.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
I would need to feel the weight of the plates, the finish and texture of the soup bowls and spoon rests, to know what I wanted. There were classic sets of shining white porcelain. And even though I was pretty sure those weren't the ones I would choose, I still took my time, lifting a few pieces, turning them over in my hands, and imagining the food I might serve on them.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
They had a very elegant stamp on their bottoms, a company name that I recognized as being old and respected, and their rims felt delicate and sharp. Knowing my own propensity to drop and bump things, I imagined these would only last a few dinners in my house. Beside them sat a stack of thicker dishes. They had a handmade, imperfect feel, and were painted with daubs of bright colors.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
against a pale blue background. The glaze was fairly smooth, but here and there were tiny and, I guessed, intentional grains of grit from the clay that still stood out on the surface. All in all, they were not the plates for me. But both of these styles had helped me whittle down my ideas and what I wanted. I needed something in the middle.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
Not so perfect and elegant that they couldn't withstand regular use. and not so handmade and rustic that their aesthetic overwhelmed the food itself. I clasped my hands behind my back and wandered around the table slowly, peering down at the other options. Sunny yellow soup bowls that felt out of season, but whose shape was perfect.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
I have mine on my lap right now. It's my constant companion when I'm recording. If you'd like to learn more about our daytime offerings, head to the links in our show notes or go to nothingmuchappens.com. So this works by giving your brain a place to rest. Like an upturned leaf in a stream of water, it will flow on the current of the story.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
Wide dinner plates in robin's egg blue, whose color I adored, but whose rim was too wide and well too small for the hearty meals I'd eat this winter.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
They were a hearty olive green color, the finish shifting a bit lighter at the rim, and with such a nice heft as I lifted a mug from the table.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Plates and Bowls
The bowl was low and wide, almost a second plate. with a high rim, which was how I liked it. Perfect for pasta or soup that would cool to the right temp as it set. The pieces were smooth but not glossy, and I just felt that any meal I ate out of them, I would be grateful for. I would feel nourished by.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
I remembered a window open in a room on the second floor. and rushed up the stairs to nudge it closed. Small puddles lay on the sill, and I used my cloth to mop them up. On the way back down, I switched on a few lamps. I liked the gloom that the storm had brought, but I also liked a bit of glow here and there,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
I think I was revisiting that feeling of being under the boat in the rain.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
A little pocket of a different kind of feeling in a sea of something bigger. I dropped my now damp dust cloth down the laundry chute and set the photo on the mantel. If I tried, I knew I could come up with more tasks to attend to. But just now, the sound of the rain, the blotted-out sun, the flash of lightning on the far edge of the lake,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
They all seemed to beckon me to my favorite spot on the sofa.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
I tossed a long blanket over me as I stretched out, turning onto one side and pulling a throw pillow under my head. I'd wondered about the joy of animals and movement, And now I thought of them at rest. A scurry of squirrels cuddled together in the knot of a tree. Otter cubs napping on the bellies of their parents. All of us letting the rain fall around us as we slept. rain on the lake.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
I thought all I wanted was sunshine. After a long, monochrome winter, the ice and snow and sky all mirroring each other I thought I only wanted to see bright golden sunbeams and velvety green lawns and bluebirds. But when I heard the rain falling on the roof this afternoon and felt the clouds closing in, I softened. relaxing in a way I hadn't lately.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
I'd been pottering around the house, following one small chore to another. A sweater laid over the back of a dining room chair. led me up into the closet, where I'd started to sort through a jewelry box. I'd found a broken brooch and a watch in need of a new battery. They'd led me back downstairs.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
to stash them in my purse in the hopes I'd remembered to take them to the repair shop on my next trip into town. In the kitchen, I'd tipped the dregs of the last pot of coffee down the drain and rinsed the carafe then wandered into the living room with a dust cloth to wipe down the bookshelf and framed photos on the mantel. That's when the light began to change and the rain sounded on the roof.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
Our story tonight is called Rain on the Lake.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
I walked over to the window with the frame and the cloth still in hand and looked down toward the lake. The bright colors of spring were shaded over by thick clouds. But rather than dimming my mood, it felt like a relief. like a cool cloth over tired eyes. More than a sprinkle, not quite a storm. A solid shower was spreading over the lake, and I became mesmerized.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
And it's a story about a sudden arrival of drops and dark clouds on a spring afternoon.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
watching the surface of the water ripple and shimmer as it came down. I remembered swimming in the rain as a kid, on days that had started out as hot and sunny, when a sudden shift of clouds would block out the bright day and raindrops fell all around me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
It's also about a brooch in a jewelry box, the smell of rain mixing with lake water.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
One summer we'd had a little inflatable boat just big enough for me and my friend from down the street to fit into. We'd paddle around in the shallow water, pretending to be explorers, adventurers, discovering unknown species of fish and fowl. On days that the rain came, we'd bail out of the boat and flip it over,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
and swim under it, our heads poking up into the bubble of air trapped beneath the inverted seats. Our voices echoed funnily in the small space, and we'd been full of jokes that only made sense to us. The sound of rain on the keel made me feel cozy and safe, even while we stood chest deep in the water.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
Mist and lamps lit in the darkness, memories of rainbows and rowboats, and taking rest as showers move across the horizon. I was a full-time yoga teacher for over 20 years, and I know the power of intentional breathing. It's why our two deep breaths have been part of our bedtime routine since episode one. And that's why I want to introduce you to Moonbird.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
At some point a parent would begin beckoning us out of the lake, telling us to come wrap up in a towel wait for the rain to pass over. But by then, the water felt warmer than the air, and we'd stall and weasel a few more minutes into the deal. If the weather changed quickly, a rainbow might spread across the sky.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
something that had seemed so much like magic.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
I'd stare at it with a bit of skepticism, as if it were a joke that would be revealed as such at some point. All of these thoughts had passed through my head, In just a few seconds, as I watched the rain fall on the lake, I found I wanted to get closer, to feel the air, to smell the lake as the drops came down. And I stepped out onto the back porch in my slippers.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
It was screened in and had just recently had its spring cleaning. The wicker chairs and tables were wiped down and the cushions laundered and plumped. I realized I still held the photo on cloth from my dusting.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
at them on a table and went close to the screens.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
A fine mist of water landed on my glasses and cheeks and I laughed. I pulled my glasses from my face and wiped the lenses on my shirt but stayed close to the screens. liking the cool touch of the rain and the scent of the lake. I could smell moss and waterlogged tree trunks.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
In the distance, the sky was even darker, and I thought this shower might actually become a storm.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
that lightning and thunder might literally be on the horizon. I wasn't cold, not yet at least, when I walked along the length of the porch, peering closely at the flowerbeds, drinking up all this good water. then into the reedy line at the edge of the lake, where I spotted a long-legged egret, bright white against the green and gray of the water.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
What was the experience of a bird or a fish on a day like today? If you have ever seen a horse running unrestrained on a beach, then you know the joy that animals can take in movement. And I wondered what it might be like to soar near a rainbow or swim just below the surface, as gentle rain fell.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
The sound of the rain rushing down suddenly doubled, and a gust of cooler wind raced through the screens.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
All right, then, I thought.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
Enough. I'll go back in. I picked up the frame and the dust cloth and stepped back into the house, pulling the door to the porch tightly behind me. I remembered a window open on the second floor and rushed up the stairs to nudge it closed. Small puddles lay on the sill, and I used my cloth to mop them up. On the way back down, I switched on a few lamps.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
Moonbird is a handheld breathing device designed to comfortably fit in the palm of your hand. When you shake it, it will start inflating and deflating. So in your hand, it will feel like you're holding a little bird that is breathing in and out. The only thing you need to do is breathe along with it. When Moonbird inflates, you breathe in When Moonbird deflates, you breathe out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
I liked the gloom that the storm had brought, but I also liked a bit of glow here and there. I think I was revisiting that feeling of being under the boat in the rain.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
A little pocket of a different kind of feeling in a sea of something bigger. I dropped my now damp dust cloth down the laundry chute and set the photo on the mantle. If I tried, I knew I could come up with more tasks to attend to. But just now, the sound of the rain, the blotted-out sun,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
the flash of lightning on the far edge of the lake.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
They all seemed to beckon me to my favorite spot on the sofa. I tossed a long blanket over me as I stretched out, turning onto one side and pulling a throw pillow under my head. I'd wondered about the joy of animals in movement. And now I thought of them at rest. A scurry of squirrels cuddled together in the knot of a tree. Otter cubs napping on the bellies of their parents. All of us.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
I create everything you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. We give to a different charity each week. And this week we are giving to United24, which works to unite the world around supporting Ukraine in an effort to protect, save, and rebuild. You can learn more in our show notes. Thanks to some recent premium subscribers. Thank you, Aiden. Thank you, Karna.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
letting the rain fall around us as we slept. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
Simple, intuitive, and takes all the effort and thinking out of your breathing exercises. It's the perfect companion to your bedtime ritual. Or use it when you're meditating, when you're stuck in traffic, anytime you need an assist in feeling calm and focused. Listen, I know how to breathe to feel better, but still I use Moonbird.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
Because when my mind is racing or wandering, I need a little guidance. And it makes my deep breathing more effective. So when you wake in the middle of the night, don't reach for your phone unless it's to restart your bedtime story. That's fine. Reach for Moonbird. Visit moonbird.life slash nothingmuchhappens to save 20%. We've got it linked in our show notes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
I'm not as young as I once was, but I care a lot about maintaining my physical and mental wellness. Cornbread, hemp, CBD gummies are a huge piece of my wellness plan. In fact, I've already reordered several of their products on my own dime. They are that good. And I've gifted two of their peppermint and arnica CBD balms to friends who tell me how much it has helped them too.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
Their gummies are formulated to help relieve discomfort, stress, and sleeplessness. And right now, Nothing Much Happens listeners can save 30% on their first order. Just head to cornbreadhemp.com slash nothingmuch and use code nothingmuch at checkout. That's cornbreadhemp.com slash nothingmuch and use code nothingmuch.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
Now, Lights out campers. It's time.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
Snuggle down and get as comfortable as you can. Tuck yourself in with care. You, as much as any other soul in the universe, deserve rest and relaxation to feel safe and cared for.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
So let my voice be a sort of guardian. My stories will watch over you as you sleep.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
Take a slow breath in through your nose and let it out. Do one more. Breathe in and release it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
Rain on the lake. I thought all I wanted was sunshine. After a long, monochrome winter, the ice and snow and sky all mirroring each other.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
I thought I only wanted to see bright, golden sunbeams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
and velvety green yards and bluebirds. But when I heard the rain falling on the roof this afternoon and felt the clouds closing in, I softened, relaxing in a way I hadn't lately. I'd been pottering around the house, following one small chore to another. A sweater laid over the back of a dining room chair led me up to the closet, where I'd started to sort through a jewelry box.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
I'd found a broken brooch and a watch in need of a new battery. they'd led me back downstairs to stash them in my purse in the hopes I'd remember to take them to the repair shop on my next trip into town. In the kitchen, I tipped the dregs of the last pot of coffee down the drain and rinsed the carafe
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
then wandered into the living room with a dust cloth to wipe down the bookshelf and framed photos on the mantle. That's when the light began to change and the rain sounded on the roof. I walked over to the window with a frame and a cloth still in hand and looked down toward the lake.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
The bright colors of spring were shaded over by thick clouds, but rather than dimming my mood, it felt like a relief, like a cool cloth over tired eyes. More than a sprinkle, not quite a storm. A solid shower was spreading over the lake, and I became mesmerized, watching the surface of the water ripple and shimmer as it came down.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
Kyle and Mary, thank you. Your support means so much to us. As always, you can subscribe to our premium for ad-free and bonus episodes. It's super affordable. It's literally about a dime a day. And the links are in our show notes. I have a story to tell you. It is a soft place to rest your mind.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
I remembered swimming in the rain as a kid, on days that had started out as hot and sunny, when a sudden shift of clouds would block out the bright day when raindrops fell all around me. One summer, we'd had a little inflatable boat, just big enough for me and my friend from down the street to fit into.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
We'd paddle around in the shallow water, pretending to be explorers, adventurers discovering unknown species of fish and fowl.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
On days that the rain came, we'd bail out of the boat and flip it over.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
We'd swim under it, our heads poking up into the bubble of air trapped beneath the inverted seats.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
Our voices echoed funnily in the small space, and we'd been full of jokes that only made sense to us.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
The sound of the rain on the keel made me feel cozy, and safe, even while we stood chest deep in water.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
At some point, a parent would begin beckoning us out of the lake, telling us to come wrap up in a towel and wait for the rain to pass over. But by then, the water felt warmer than the air,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
And we'd stall and weasel a few more minutes into the deal. If the weather changed quickly, a rainbow might spread across the sky.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
Something that seemed so much like magic.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
I'd stare at it with a bit of skepticism.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
as if it were a joke that would be revealed as such at some point. All of these thoughts had passed through my head in a few seconds. Watching the rain fall on the lake, I found I wanted to get closer.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
to feel the air, to smell the lake as the drops came down.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
And I stepped out onto the back porch in my slippers. It was screened in and had just recently had its spring cleaning. The wicker chairs and tables were wiped down, and the cushions laundered and plumped.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
I realized I still held the photo and cloth from my dusting and set them on a table and went close to the screens. A fine mist of water landed on my glasses and cheeks, and I laughed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
I pulled my glasses from my face and wiped the lenses on my shirt, but stayed close to the screens, liking the cool touch of the rain and the scent of the lake. I could smell moss and waterlogged tree trunks.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
And just by listening, you'll condition a reliable response in your nervous system to fall asleep and return to sleep easily. This is a form of brain training. So be patient if you are new to this. I'll read the story twice. and I'll go a little slower the second time through. If you wake again later in the night, think back through any part of the story you can remember, or just push play again.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
In the distance, the sky was even darker, and I thought this shower might actually become a storm, that lightning and thunder might literally be on the horizon. I wasn't cold, not yet at least, and I walked along the length of the porch.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
peering closely at the flowerbeds, drinking up all this good water, then into the reedy line at the edge of the lake, where I spotted a long-legged egret, bright white against the green and gray of the water.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
What was the experience of a bird or a fish on a day like today? If you have ever seen a horse running unrestrained on a beach, then you know the joy that animals can take in movement.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
And I wondered what it might be like
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
to soar near a rainbow or to swim just below the surface as gentle rain fell.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Rain on the Lake
The sound of the rain rushing down suddenly doubled and a gust of cooler wind raced through the screens. All right then, I thought. Enough. I'll go back in. I picked up the frame and my dust cloth and stepped back into the house, pulling the door to the porch tightly behind me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
A panel in the wall beside the bookcase moved back and slid away, revealing the bottom step of the hidden stair. The first time I'd gone up those stairs, I'll admit the hair on the back of my neck had stood up. But I'd quickly learned that this wasn't an eerie place, but a protected one.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
I was excited.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
At the top, it opened into a small room
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
But instead of a chest of drawers and a bed, there was a large desk and a straight back chair. Along the walls, there were shelves lined with books and several large trunks. Chef, who still held half a cookie in their hand, gulped as they looked around and stuck it into the front pocket of their apron.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
What is all of this?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
All these books, I trailed my fingers across their spines. They're full of local people's stories, and the trunks have pictures and family trees, maps and histories. Stories like folk stories?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
I picked up a book that was open on the desk and turned it around to show. This whole book is about people's birthdays who lived when the innkeeper did, here in the village.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
what kind of punch was served, the gifts and the decorations.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
Sometimes just a date of birth and a name.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
And there are pictures.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
Chef pointed to a snapshot of a small gray cat sitting on a velvet poof. That one looks just like Cinder, I agreed. So, I still don't understand. What is it about? What's it for? I scratched my head and looked around the small room.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
Kept them like other people collect music or paintings.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
She did that, but in a different way.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
Why is it hidden away? Didn't she ever show it to anyone? I plopped down into the straight-back chair and rested my hands on the desktop. There were dust motes floating in the air, sunlight cutting through the small window. Sycamore turned his head and looked at me as if he wanted to hear my answer too.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
She anthologized, and I'm going to share it all. It's all been so perfectly organized. It's just waiting for someone to exhibit these stories. Sycamore jumped down and came to rub against my ankle. I reached down and lifted him into my lap.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
Now, I have a story to tell you, and it's a place to rest your mind.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
I turn to look up at my friend. What do you think? Are there recipes?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
I reached up to pat their shoulder. My friend, there are even pickle recipes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
of sharing and showing. The busy weekend was winding down. What fun we had had. The inn had bustled with activity for the last three days. Guests, of course, our small staff, a band of musicians, florists, and Sycamore the Cat. We'd served fantastic meals. poured many, many cups of coffee in the breakfast rooms, and kept the fireplaces burning through the days.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
Now, as guests were checking out, I was behind the tall desk in the office, sliding room keys back into their cubbies and tidying up paperwork. I could hear our maids in the halls above, vacuum cleaners running along the floorboards and doors opening and closing as one room was finished. and another began. Poor Sycamore was exhausted.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
He lay in the inbox on the desk, his long black tail slung across the keyboard, and his nose pressed against the blotter. I stopped to massage his little body.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
He purred thickly.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
I stepped into the hall and saw the last couple of guests coming down the stairs. There was a sparkle about them as they smiled at each other. their hands clasped between them. This weekend had obviously done them good, and I took a bit of pride in whatever part we had played in that. As they stopped to hand over their room keys and fill to-go cups,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
They thanked me for the special event we'd hosted the night before. We had a fancy dinner in the ballroom with musicians and beautiful decorations. A kind of grown-up prom.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
I nodded, smiling brightly. That's the nice thing. about having some space from those moments, right? I said. We can rewrite them when we're older and own the best version. He slung his arm around his partner and nodded, and I saw them out to their car in the drive. On the way back in, I sighed, realizing that the inn was now empty, besides her caretakers.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
He trusted me completely.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
We walked through the hall and into the drawing room and dining room. The sun was bright today, and the rooms were lit with an echoing shine as it bounced off the snow. I'd need to put away the sugar bowls to launder the tablecloths. and sweep the floors. But there was no rush. I went through to the hall again and stuck my head into the stairway down to the kitchen. Chef, I called. Are you busy?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
Do you have time for a little adventure? There was silence for a second, then a low call back of, should I bring cookies?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
I turned and led them down to the library, with Sycamore still in my arms. I dropped Siki on the sofa and went back to the door. I looked up and down the hall. The vacuums were still going upstairs and probably would be for the foreseeable future. I closed the door and turned toward Chef. At the Halloween party, something was revealed to me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
Chef nodded and extended the plate of cookies to me. I took one, cross-hatched on its dark brown top with tine marks. A chocolate peanut butter, Chef said. a little breathlessly. Well played, I replied. So my friend with the gray cat, you know her, right? Uh, Cinder's mom? Yes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
She didn't know exactly what or how, but after a minute or two in this room, she asked me if there was some question I'd been carrying around about the inn. Chef had taken a large bite of their cookie, but had forgotten to chew, so caught up in the excitement of the story. I took a deep breath. and told them that sometimes, out of the corner of my eye, I catch a glimpse of the first innkeeper.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
That I'd been looking through old pictures and newspaper clippings for her. that I felt a connection to her. Maybe it was just the house and the job we'd both done. I walked over to the fireplace mantle and took the ring of keys from my pocket. I held up the small iron key I'd been given that Halloween night, and fitted it into a hidden keyhole just under the bracket on the side of the mantle.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
Chef let out a satisfying gasp and jumped to their feet. Is this really happening? Yep, I said, as I grasped the key with both hands and turned it forcefully. A panel in the wall beside the bookcase moved back and slid away, revealing the bottom step of the hidden stair. The first time I'd gone up those stairs, I'll admit, the hair on the back of my neck had stood up.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
But I'd quickly learned that this wasn't an eerie place, but a protected one. It felt now, as I led the way, chef behind me and sycamore at the rear, like showing your childhood bedroom to your best friend for the first time. I was excited. The stairway itself curved as it climbed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
At the top, it opened into a small room about the size of one of our guest rooms. But instead of a chest of drawers and a bed, there was a large desk and a straight-backed chair. Along the walls, there were shelves lined with books and several large trunks.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
jumped up onto the ledge in front of the single window and looked out. What is all of this? Chef asked with wonder in their voice. Well, it took me a while to understand, but I think the first innkeeper was a kind of archivist. All these books, I trailed my fingers across their spines. They're full of local people's stories, and the trunks have pictures and family trees. maps and histories.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
We stared at each other for a second. Stories.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
This whole book is about people's birthdays. How everyone celebrated. Their cake of choice. What kind of punch was served. the gifts and decorations.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
And there are pictures. We looked through a few.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
But still, the animals and their humans looked happy and relaxed. Chef pointed to a snapshot of a small gray cat sitting on a velvet poof. That one looks just like Cinder. I agreed. So, I still don't understand. What is it about? What's it for? I scratched my head. and looked around the room. I didn't have an exact answer.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
I think she just collected stories, kept them, like other people collect music or paintings. I think they were beautiful to her, and she felt the need to document the lives of the people in her village, even if it was really small, simple stuff.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
She did that, but in a different way. And Chef asked the question that had been nagging at me since I'd found this room on Halloween night. Why is it hidden away? Didn't she ever show it to anyone? I plopped down into the straight-backed chair. and rested my hands on the desktop. There were dust motes floating in the air, sunlight cutting through the small window.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
Sycamore turned his head and looked at me as if he wanted to hear my answer too. I think that's what I'm meant to do, I said. My voice quiet, but sure. She anthologized. And I'm going to share it all. It's all been so perfectly organized. It's just waiting for someone to exhibit these stories. Sycamore jumped down and came to rub against my ankle. I reached down and lifted him to my lap.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
I think we'll set up an exhibit. Some of it can be here. some at the library, the museum, other places in town.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
I turned to look up at my friend. What do you think? Are there recipes?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
We would have a busy summer ahead of us, of curating and cooking. of sharing and showing. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good. and then you fall asleep. I'm Catherine Nicolai. I write and read everything you hear on Nothing Much Happens.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
Now, it's time. Turn off the light. Slide down into your sheets and pull the blanket up over your shoulder. I'll be here reading even after you've fallen asleep.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
Good. Valentine's at the Inn Part 3 The busy weekend was winding down. What fun we had had. The inn had bustled with activity for the last three days. Guests, of course, our small staff, a band of musicians, Floris and Sycamore the Cat.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
and kept the fireplaces burning through the days.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
vacuum cleaners running along the floorboards, and doors opening and closing as one room was finished and another began. Poor Sycamore was exhausted.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
He would sleep all day.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
There was a sparkle about them as they smiled at each other, their hands clasped between them.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
We'd had a fancy dinner in the ballroom, with musicians and beautiful decorations. A kind of grown-up prom.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
And I saw them out to their car in the drive. On the way back in, I sighed, realizing that the inn was now empty, besides her caretakers.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
I stopped back into the office to put away the last room key and scooped Sycamore into my arms like the baby he was.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
I hadn't yet found it. We walked through the hall and into the dining room and drawing room. The sun was bright today, and the rooms were lit with an echoing shine as it bounced off the snow. I would need to put away the sugar bowls, to launder the tablecloths, and sweep the floors. But there was no rush.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
Do you have time for a little adventure? There was silence for a second, then a low call back of, should I bring cookies?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
I turned and led them down to the library, with Sycamore still in my arms.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
I closed the door and turned toward Chef.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 3
That I'd been looking through old pictures and newspaper clippings for her. That I felt a connection to her. Maybe it was just the house and the job that we'd both done. I walked over to the fireplace mantle and took the ring of keys from my pocket. I held up the small iron key I'd been given that Halloween night.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
I care about your sleep. It is always my first thought and priority in making this show. And sometimes you need extra help. Sometimes, even when your sleep hygiene is top tier, sleep doesn't come. Some nights, you might struggle to fall asleep. or wake after a few hours and toss and turn. I get it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
Try Sleep Breakthrough Drink risk-free with Bioptimizers 365-day money-back guarantee. And this is all in our show notes if you forget. Visit bioptimizers.com slash nothingmuch and use code nothingmuch for 10% off any order. Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
Chef was away, working at a ski resort for most of the winter, but they had called to check in as well. Snowplow was expected today to clear their long drive, and even once it had, she didn't anticipate leaving the inn for a few more days.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
He worked at the bakery, and I realized I had no idea if anything was even open on Main Street. He told me that as far as he could see from his window, nearly everything was closed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
He'd gone out just once, at the urging of the baker herself, to help himself to any of the cookies or loaves of bread still on their shelves, and since then had just been eating sandwiches and reading books while wrapped up in blankets in his favorite chair.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
I'd met her when I'd stopped to pick some lilacs from the bushes that ran along the front of her property, where she'd posted signs encouraging folks to take as many blooms as they liked. She'd been fixing the house up for the last few years, and I wondered if, like my own old house, it would be drafty in the winter,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
She told me it was actually quite snug, that her boiler was working perfectly, and that she'd even cracked a window in the kitchen this morning because it might be working too well.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
I thought of how sweet it was to be connected, here on my street, through banana bread and snowblowers, but also to those farther away, through a thought or a word.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
For two days the wind had blown, and a steady downfall of flakes had blanketed the village.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
As I peered out, my neighbor's back door opened, and a small band of boys and dogs came barreling into the snow.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
till Mother Nature was finished with her decorating.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
for the boys and their dads. One of the many snowed-in projects I'd undertaken in the last day or two.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
We give to a different charity each week. And this week we are giving to Veganuary, working to encourage people worldwide to try vegan for January and beyond. Learn more in our show notes. Let's take care of our housekeeping while you brush your teeth. Shows like ours need a couple of things to continue. And one is ads. And I know no one likes listening.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
But just by letting them play in a couple of minutes, you'll be supporting our show. We only have ads read in my own voice to make them as least disturbing as possible. If you ever hear an ad read by someone else, please know it's a mistake. Sometimes mistakes get made along the way. Just let us know if you've heard one, and we will fix it as soon as we can.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
And, in fact, when she answered, she was a bit out of breath, but laughing and happy to hear from a friend. She confirmed that they had plenty of firewood,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
And even once it had, she didn't anticipate leaving the inn for a few more days.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
And since then, had just been eating sandwiches and reading books,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
that her boiler was working perfectly, and that she'd cracked a window in the kitchen this morning because it might be working too well.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
The other thing we need to stay alive is premium subscribers. And if you do that, you'll get our entire catalog, ad-free with bonus and supersized episodes, all for about a dime a day.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
Now, just by listening to the story I'm about to tell you, we will shift your brain activity from default mode, where it can wander endlessly, to task positive mode, where sleep is accessible. So just follow the sound of my voice. I'll tell the story twice. and I'll go a little slower the second time through.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
If you wake later in the night, sometimes just thinking through the title will put you back to sleep. If not, turn an episode back on. This is habit building, and your body's responses will improve with time. Our story tonight is called Snow Day. in the village, and it follows up on the recent storm that blew through the village of Nothing Much.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
It's about checking on neighbors as the drifts pile up, shovels and thick socks. It's also about banana bread, puppy paw prints in the snow, books and blankets, and small acts that connect and protect us.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
When perimenopause hit me like a wrecking ball, it threw my sleep cycles so far off course that I felt like a different person. And sleep breakthrough drink from Bioptimizers has really helped. I fall asleep when I want to, and I sleep through the night without that 3 a.m. panic wake-up that had been haunting me. When I wake in the morning, I feel good, not groggy. I'm rested. My days are better.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
Unfortunately, like all of you, I live in the real world, and I don't always trust what comes out of my tap. That's why I use AquaTrue purifiers. They use a four-stage reverse osmosis purification process. and their countertop purifiers work with no installation or plumbing.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
It removes 15 times more contaminants than ordinary pitcher filters, and are specifically designed to combat chemicals like PFAS in your water supply. The filters are affordable and long-lasting. I love this part. My old filter had to be changed every month, and I forgot all the time. But AquaTrue filters last from six months to two years.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
Just one set of filters from their classic purifier makes the equivalent of 4,500 bottles of water. That's less than three cents a bottle. Plus, you'll save the environment from tons of plastic waste. And the water tastes really good. I don't worry about PFAS or harmful contaminants anymore. Today, my listeners receive 20% off any AquaTrue purifier. Just go to AquaTrue.com.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
That's A-Q-U-A-T-R-U dot com and enter code NOTHINGMUCH at checkout. That's 20% off any AquaTrue water purifier. When you go to AquaTrue.com and use promo code N-O-T-H-I-N-G-M-U-C-H.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
Snuggle down and get as comfortable as you can. Take a second to scan through your body, temples to toes, and consciously relax as you go. Take a deep breath in through your nose and sigh out. Nice. One more. Breathe in. And out. Good.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
The thick gray clouds that had brought the storm had blown over, and wispy white ones replaced them. I spied them from the window seat at the end of the upstairs hall in my house.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
As I peered out, my neighbor's back door opened, and a small band of boys and dogs came barreling into the snow.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
But watching their little family had given me lots of laughs.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
while many of us had just let the snow pile up, waiting to clear paths and sidewalks till Mother Nature was finished with her decorating. The boys had been out every hour or two with their shovels, making paths for the dogs. I imagined the promises they had made about that puppy,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
that they would walk him every day, that they would be sure to let him out and play with him, and so far they were doing just that.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
Bioptimizers has flexible dosing, which I really like. My wife needs just a little bit, and I take a little more. And for folks looking for an option without melatonin, this is it. Ready to transform your sleep and wake up feeling refreshed. Visit bioptimizers.com slash nothingmuch and use code nothingmuch for 10% off any order. Don't settle for another restless night, my friends.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
I'd baked some biscuits for the dogs and some banana bread for the boys and their dads, one of the many snowed-in projects I'd undertaken in the last day or two.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
It also had cozy, warmer corners, and I stepped into one at the top of the stairs. Here another window let me look out at the winter wonderland around me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
She was waving at another neighbor, a few houses down, who had a massive snowblower fired up. I smiled when I saw him. He would be our collective hero today, I had no doubt. He loved that snowblower, and he was the type of guy that thrilled at a task like the one now set before him.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
He often did everyone's sidewalks and driveways and was known on the block as the person to go to when you needed to borrow a tool or get some advice, possibly too much advice on fence repair or gutter cleaning.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
and his penchant for the ancient world led him to dub his beloved snowblower Clear Opathtra. He looked up from the slow, clear path he was now making and spotted the waving neighbor. He lifted an arm above his head, a thumbs-up signaling he understood the assignment.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
Having neighbors who take care of each other, who look out for each other, it is no small thing in this world And even on this cold day, as I descended the stairs, I felt it warming me through. And it made me think, if shoveling was no longer on my chore list, how else might I be helpful to my neighbors? In the kitchen, as I packed up the treats for the boys next door,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
I thought that while our block was checking in on one another, there were folks who lived further out who might need a call.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
As I listened to it ring, I imagined the innkeeper. racing through the halls to reach it in the front office where guests checked in.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snow Day in the Village
that she and her cat Sycamore were camping out in the library in front of the fire, looking through old photo albums and books and eating their way through the well-stocked kitchen pantry.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
Something I have gotten so much better at in the last few years is taking care of my body, lovingly nourishing myself. getting all the sleep I need. I even floss now. And Symbiotica products are a big part of this grown-up self-care. Whether you're trying to boost your energy and mood, improve digestion, or just function like a human, Symbiotica has something for you.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
two of which might have been twins.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
From down the street, the sound of music and bike bells came, And from the doggy door of the house on the corner, a spotted pooch shot out into the yard. She ran to the fence and sat down, her tail swishing back and forth behind her.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
I stepped into the intersection to block any cross traffic and waved to the bus driver to show all was clear.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
Some of the adults had trailers on their bikes with toddlers strapped in. And I noticed a few teenagers who I knew were guiding their little siblings to class before heading further on to the high school.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
The kids bopped to the music on their bike seats. And the adults, while keeping one eye on the side streets and cars and driveways, were singing along too. At the tail end of the bus were some of the slower riders, some whose legs were just a lot shorter and took more effort to keep up. and some who just weren't in any particular hurry to get to school today.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
I'm Katherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. We give to a different charity each week, and this week we are giving to a group and movement that inspired tonight's story. They are called Bike Bus World, and they transform communities and our planet through the simple act of riding bikes to school together.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
The dog at the fence, now finding a bright patch of sunlight, scratched at the grass a moment.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
starting my day this way, with fresh air and joy, a bit of service, music, and others.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
Even a box of hand warmers that I passed out when it was really brutal. I'd played music from the car stereo on those days.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
You can learn more about them in our show notes. If you are looking for even more, nothing much, you can get our premium ad-free feed with dozens of bonus and extra long episodes for about a dime a day. And I think that's a steal. Our stories are brought to you through a lot of hard work.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
They called it the bike bus, and it consisted of a few teachers and parents leading a pack of kids all on bikes to school in the morning and back home in the afternoon.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
He'd even started a monthly bike maintenance and repair clinic at the school, where the riders learned to patch a tire, to fix broken chains and adjust their brakes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
We tried to keep the ratio of grown-ups to kids at about one to four. Kids needed to stay behind the leader.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
After that, the goal was just to have fun outside together.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
carried a speaker in their basket, and played happy, upbeat music. Watching the kids sing along as they zoomed past made me smile so hard that tears sometimes came to my eyes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
There's no AI on our team, just me writing all the time, Bob refining the audio, and others doing the behind-the-scenes work. So if you choose to subscribe, please know how grateful we are, how supported that makes us feel. You can subscribe through the link in our notes or go to nothingmuchappens.com.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
There was a noticeable effort. to share the street.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
Kids who prefer to walk to the noisy, busy bus group.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
Some days you might want to ride with friends, chat and sing together. And other days you might need some quiet, alone time. to take in the world in a slower way, and the kids could choose each day. I saw a girl walking toward me and put up my sign to guide her through the intersection. She had a large black case with her, A saxophone, I guessed, by the shape.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
Now, this technique works by engaging your brain just enough to keep it from wandering, but not so much that we keep it awake. The story becomes a sort of lullaby. So please, just follow along with the sound of my voice and the calm shape of our story. Before you know it, You'll be waking up tomorrow, feeling replete and refreshed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
And I noticed a few teenagers who I knew were guiding their little siblings to class before heading further onto the high school. We smiled at each other as they all flew by. The kids bopped to the music on their bike seats. And the adults, while keeping one eye on the side streets and cars and driveways, were singing along too.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
and took more effort to keep up than some who weren't in any particular hurry to get to school today.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through. If you wake later in the night, don't hesitate to turn a story back on. You'll drop right back off to sleep. Our story tonight It's called Bike Bus, and it's a story about a joyful ride to school on a spring day.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
It's also about a dog enjoying a sunny patch on the lawn, neighbors on porches, music playing from a bike basket, paper sack lunches, and the joy of a trip taken together. In the village of Nothing Much, I'm sure they never have to worry about their tap water. Unfortunately, like all of you, I live in the real world, and I don't always trust what comes out of my tap.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
That's why I use AquaTrue purifiers. They use a four-stage reverse osmosis purification process. and their countertop purifiers work with no installation or plumbing. It removes 15 times more contaminants than ordinary pitcher filters, and are specifically designed to combat chemicals like PFAS in your water supply. The filters are affordable and long-lasting. I love this part.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
My old filter had to be changed every month, and I forgot all the time. But AquaTrue filters last from six months to two years. Just one set of filters from their classic purifier makes the equivalent of 4,500 bottles of water. That's less than three cents a bottle. Plus, you'll save the environment from tons of plastic waste. And the water tastes really good.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
I've been taking their vitamin C every day. In fact, my wife and I went on vacation, and we packed their liquid travel-size packets in our carry-ons. It was truly the easiest thing I've done to keep up with my health. Symbiotica is as clean as it gets. No seed oils, preservatives, or artificial junk. Just high-quality, real ingredients that actually do something.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
I don't worry about PFAS or harmful contaminants anymore. Today, my listeners receive 20% off any AquaTrue purifier. Just go to AquaTrue.com. That's A-Q-U-A-T-R-U dot com. and enter code NOTHINGMUCH at checkout. That's 20% off any AquaTrue water purifier. When you go to AquaTrue.com and use promo code N-O-T-H-I-N-G-M-U-C-H.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
Take a slow breath in through your nose and sigh it out. Once more, please. Breathe in and exhale.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
Stepping outside this morning, I felt spring all around me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
The first flowers of the season were poking up through the soil in the beds around my house.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
I'd planted some tulip bulbs last autumn and had crocuses that came back every year. But I'd also been cultivating some wildflowers in the backyard. and was excited to see the trout lilies and the Dutchman's breeches that would bloom along the fence. I stopped at the garage, pushed my hip into the sticking side door, and nudged it open.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
From a hook on the wall, I took down my yellow vest and crossing guard stop sign. I'd been volunteering a couple days a week since the school year started in September. And I found I looked forward to these mornings and afternoons more than I'd expected.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
passing the sign back and forth between my hands.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
I could have managed it, even on the very cold days. but had found that it was better to keep my car near where the kids crossed in bitter weather. I had a collection of extra hats and gloves in my trunk for anyone who had forgotten theirs, even a box of hand warmers that I passed out when it was really brutal.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
I'd played music from the car stereo on those days, to dance to when my legs grew numb, to boost the young ones' spirits on their way to school. But now that the days were warming and sunnier, there were other ways to keep the kids moving and cheerful.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
I feel so good knowing I'm taking care of my body. Yeah, it's even better than flossing. Symbiotica. Symbiotica. Wellness made simple. Go to symbiotica.com slash nothingmuch for 20% off plus free shipping. That's symbiotica.com slash nothingmuch for 20% off plus free shipping. Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
They called it the Bike Bus, and it consisted of a few teachers and parents leading a pack of kids, all on bikes, to school in the morning and back home in the afternoon. Our P.E. teacher had started it a few years before. after getting the idea from a colleague in another district, and had come to school safety and crossing guards to make a plan.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
The owner of the bike shop downtown had stepped in to help as well. He'd even started a monthly bike maintenance and repair clinic at the school. where our riders learned to patch a tire to fix broken chains and adjust their brakes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
Everyone had to wear a helmet. We tried to keep the ratio of grown-ups to kids at about one to four. Kids needed to stay behind the leader, and everyone kept to the planned route. After that, the goal was just to have fun outside together. And boy, did we have fun. The bus driver, the grown-up in front, carried a speaker in their basket and played happy, upbeat music.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
And watching the kids sing along as they zoomed past made me smile so hard that tears sometimes came to my eyes. Often, on days I wasn't stationed at my post, days I wasn't scheduled to volunteer at all, I found myself rolling down my driveway on my own bike. and heading out to help ride along.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
I'd pick up the rear to watch for stragglers, or weave into the middle of the pack to help the kids keep pace and pay attention. The bike bus was a source of pure joy for me, and I knew I wasn't the only one.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
Because of it, I knew more people on our street by name. It seemed like we all spent more time outdoors now, And it even seemed to change the way cars drove on our street. More aware that folks were biking and walking. There was a noticeable effort to share the street.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Bike Bus
I'd be seeing the first walkers in the next few minutes. And there still were a few kids who just preferred a walk to the noisy, busy bus group. That was the nice thing about having these options. Some days you might want to ride with friends, chat, sing together. On other days, you might need some quiet time alone to take in the world in a slower way.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
Guests who needed a pick-me-up were filling mugs, and we wove past them to the front office. where I'd spotted the members of the band we'd hired. There was a piano player and singer who would serenade us during dinner, and then a drummer and guitar player who would join in to get folks dancing afterwards.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
He rushed toward them, rubbing against their legs and instrument cases. I followed and greeted them, taking their coats and leading them down to the library.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
I liked this part. Everything was coming together.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
But now I'd overseen weddings and parties, busy holiday weekends and summer fates. Tonight, I was sure, would be magical. dinner, music, and dancing cheek to cheek. This old place had seen lots of magic over the years, and this would be another night for the books. Up in the ballroom on the second floor, things were nearly ready.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
and wander into the lonely corners of our vast rooms. Today, we'd served breakfast in the dining room and drawing room with fires burning in the grates and flowers on each table. Chef had made our famous coffee cake as well as cinnamon rolls and cardamom buns. We poured cup after cup of coffee and fresh-squeezed orange juice. There was a light snow falling, with tiny, thin flakes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I create everything that you hear on Nothing Much Happens with audio engineering by Bob Wittersheim.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
And the sun came out now and then to sparkle on the frozen lake. It was romantic. There was no argument there. But tonight was going to top it. Our guests were encouraged to visit town for lunch. We'd put out some soup and sandwiches in the dining room, self-service style.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
I'd had an idea, a little cheesy maybe, but but I hoped it would prove to be both romantic and fun. We were hosting a little grown-up prom for our guests tonight. The ballroom was decorated with streamers and balloons. and bowls of chocolates. I was up on a ladder in the far corner behind the piano, twisting the last of the crepe paper streamers into place while my cat, Sycamore,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
chased a red balloon under a table.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
and just had fun. Well, that's why we are having a do-over, called a voice from the hall.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
I went over to help them set out the tarts and cakes on the buffet by the window. Did you like your prom? I asked.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
They laughed as they tucked the empty tray under an arm. and headed back to the kitchens for more. Well, tonight, everyone would have fun, would dance as much as they liked, and be fed wonderful food, celebrate, and hopefully fall even deeper in love with their person. Sycamore and I kept at it through the afternoon, and just as I was lighting the candles on the tables, I started to hear guests
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
coming through the entryway downstairs. Shoes clapping against the slate floor. I checked my watch and realized the band would be here soon. We closed the double doors to the ballroom as we left. not wanting guests to come peeping till we were ready. We followed the sweeping curved staircase down into the entryway, saying hello to guests as we passed them. The sun was setting.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
and sending her rose-red glow through the windows. It burnished the dark wood of the banisters and caught the silvery sparkles in Sycamore's black coat. On the central table at the bottom of the stairs, Beside the giant fern I'd kept alive for three winters now were urns of coffee and hot tea. Guests who needed a pick-me-up were filling mugs with
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
Learn more about them in our show notes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
and we wove past them to the front office, where I'd spotted the members of the band we'd hired. There was a piano player and singer who would serenade us during dinner. and then a drummer and guitar player who would join in to get folks dancing afterwards. Sycamore loves music and had heard this band play at our Halloween party.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
He rushed toward them, rubbing against their legs and instrument cases. I followed and greeted them, taking their coats and leading them down to the library where they could relax and nosh on the snack plates Chef had prepared for them before they took the stage. I liked this part. Everything was coming together. Before I'd been an innkeeper,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
But now, I'd overseen weddings and parties, busy holiday weekends and summer fates. Tonight, I was sure, would be magical. With dinner, music, and dancing cheek to cheek. This old place had seen lots of magic over the years. And this would be another night for the books. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
Links to everything in our notes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
You'll fall asleep faster and return to sleep more easily over time. I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little bit slower the second time through. Our story tonight is called Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2, and it continues from last week, a tale of a little romance and a lot of coziness by the lake.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
Okay, time to turn off the lights.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
Good. Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2. Up in the ballroom on the second floor, things were nearly ready.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
Chef had made our famous coffee cake
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
We poured cup after cup of coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice. There was a light snow falling, the kind with tiny thin flakes. And the sun came out now and then to sparkle on the frozen lake. It was romantic. There was no argument there. But tonight was going to top it. Our guests were encouraged to visit town for lunch.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
And thankfully, most of them took us up on it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
I'd had an idea.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
We were hosting a little grown-up prom for our guests tonight. The ballroom was decorated with streamers and balloons. flowers, and bowls of chocolates.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
I'd been telling him about my own prom many years before, how it had been mostly a letdown, a night that had been overhyped for years and could not have lived up to all that I'd expected.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
Well, that's why we're having a do-over, called a voice from the hall. I smiled to myself as I climbed down from the ladder.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
Did you like your prom? I asked.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
What can I say?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
Well, tonight, everyone would have fun, would dance as much as they liked, be fed wonderful food, celebrate, and hopefully fall even deeper in love with their person. Sycamore and I kept at it through the afternoon, and just as I was lighting the candles on the tables, I started to hear gas coming through the entryway downstairs, shoes clapping against the slate floor. I checked my watch,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
and realized the band would be here soon. We closed the double doors to the ballroom as we left, not wanting guests to come peeping till we were ready. We followed the sweeping curved staircase down into the entryway, saying hello to guests as we passed them. The sun was setting and sending her rose-red glow through the windows.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 2
It burnished the dark wood of the banisters and caught the silvery sparkles in Sycamore's black coat.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories you'll hear on Nothing Much Happens. With audio engineering by Bob Wittersheim.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
But we hadn't made any other plans. We just watched the forecasts and waited. But each day, they'd sounded more sure. and their predictions had grown along with their confidence. Now we weren't looking at just five inches of snow, or even eight. Now they seemed pretty sure that by the time Old Man Winter had finished with us, we'd have two feet of fresh flakes to contend with.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
Today, when the latest prediction had played over the radio, I'd been standing in the kitchen of the farmhouse. The scent of breakfast, toast and coffee, still rich in the air. And I smiled and rubbed my hands together in excitement. Looking out from the kitchen window, I could see the calm before the storm. Our paddocks and yards were clear, trampled grasses still visible.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
And our rescue animals were out, playing and feeding. I like at least one solid snowstorm each year. I don't know, I find them fun. Especially if we didn't have to go anywhere, which we didn't, and we had plenty of supplies. We did. I loved watching the landscape change. hour over hour. The goats becoming indignant about it. And then, about a half hour later, playing wildly in the snow.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
I liked tucking everyone into their stalls and pens. with straw and treats and blankets, and retreating back to the house for cocoa and cookies. So now that it seemed like a sure thing, that this snow was coming and coming soon. We set about making a list of things to get done before it got too late. Once we had our marching orders, we layered on our coats and hats
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
and stepped into our rubber boots. My first stop was the pond on the far edge of the property, where the ducks and geese were out for their daily splash. I wondered if it would be frozen over by the end of the storm and guessed it probably would. I'd swiped a package of blueberries from the fridge as they were one of our feathered friends' favorite treats.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
and I met them at the water's edge and tossed a handful of berries among their waddling bodies. It's going to snow, y'all, I called through my muffler. I turned toward the barn. and tossed a few more over my shoulder, and they came toddling after. Just then, the first flakes started to fall, and from our spot on the edge of the farm
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
Our story tonight is... is called Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
I smiled as we trudged down the path. When the ducks and geese were all inside their pen with fresh water, and the last of the berries. I went to settle the donkeys.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
with our husky, Frigo. They had become good friends over the summer and often napped together in the donkey enclosure.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
He loved the snow and the cold, and I decided if he wanted to snuggle with George and Muriel and the other donkeys, it would be fine. Their part of the barn was well insulated. And a few years back, while we were renovating, pulling out rotten floorboards, we'd installed underfloor heating, which the animals loved.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
that they would feel cared for. And if we could manage it, even a bit pampered and heated floors definitely helped. I called for George and Frigo. The snow was thick now. and I couldn't see much past the edge of the corral. The ponies who'd been out with them had had enough and came clippity-clopping through the open barn doors. I brushed the snow
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
out of their hair and settled them into their pen. I called again for George and Frigo and in the distance heard the goats being called in from their yard. We'd decided to divide and conquer in our chores. And I was a bit glad I'd not ended up with the goats on my list. They were stubborn and silly and foolish.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
and the llamas munching their grasses to see if the barn cats had shown up to snuggle in.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
I found them stretched out on the elevated walkway we'd built for them over the summer. They liked to make their rounds around the barn.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
When I stepped out, it seemed a full two or three inches had already fallen. The whole landscape was draped in white, and it was a beautiful sight. George was trotting through it and called out to me with a long hee-haw, his little whipped tail wagging behind him.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
He nudged me for kisses and cuddles, and I stood there with him, his long head in my arms, murmuring to him about the fun he could have tomorrow when there would be even more powder to prance through. Frigo was rolling in the snow, his fuzzy fur inundated with it, and I couldn't help but laugh. These kids made me so happy. From the other barn,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
So lights out, devices down, plump your pillow,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
I could just hear the lowing of the cows and the bleeding of the goats who had finally been tucked in. I leaned into George's shoulder and kissed his soft cheek. Come on, Georgie. He and a well-chilled Frigo followed me in, and as I settled them into the straw with the other donkeys, there was a chorus that began and resounded through the barn. Each animal called out to hear the others.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
Was everyone inside? They seemed to be asking. I looked and listened and assured myself as well as them. Yes, everyone was accounted for. Everyone had bedding and food and water, favorite stuffies and balls to play with. as I pulled the heavy barn door closed behind me and turned back to the farmhouse ready for cocoa and a spot by the fire. I hummed under my breath, let it snow, let it snow.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
Feel your whole body drop heavy into the bed. You have done enough for the day. It was enough. Now it's time for rest.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
Let it snow. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
Good. Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm. They had been predicting it for days.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
But we hadn't made any other plans. We just watched the forecasts and waited. But each day they sounded more sure, and their predictions had grown along with their confidence. Now we weren't looking at just five inches of snow or even eight.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
Looking out from the kitchen window, I could see the calm before the storm, Our paddocks and yards were clear, trampled grasses still visible, and our rescue animals were out playing and feeding.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
We did. I loved watching the landscape change, hour over hour.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
before it got too late. Once we had our marching orders, we layered on our coats and hats and stepped into our rubber boots. My first stop was the pond on the far edge of the property, where the ducks and geese were out for their daily splash.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
Learn more in our show notes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
Just then the first flakes started to fall, and from our spot on the edge of the farm, We could see it dropping like fairy dust over the fields and outbuildings. I smiled as we trudged down the path.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
I called for George and Frigo.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
I brushed the snow out of their hair and settled them into their pens.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
to see if the barn cats had shown up to snuggle in.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
and the bleeding of the goats who had finally been tucked in. I leaned into George's shoulder and kissed his soft cheek. Come on, Georgie. Nap time.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
Each animal called out to hear the others. Was everyone inside, they seemed to be asking. I looked and listened and assured myself, as well as them, yes, everyone was accounted for.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm
Let it snow. Snowstorm at Weathervane Farm. They had been predicting it for days. A snowstorm like we hadn't seen in years. And to be honest, I'd heard that before, probably more than once per winter. So at the beginning of the week, when all this snow was much more hypothetical, yes, we'd made sure the barns were stocked with extra hay and that the plow was on the truck.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
Patiently, I kept my hand on the tree and my breath circling. And soon my highways were clear. my back roads wide open. I opened my eyes and let my palm fall away from the bark, turned and leaned my back against it. I was calmed, quieted, nothing to search for or achieve. I just was, as the tree and the water were. The willow tree.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
It isn't just that the willow is the first tree each spring to sprout leaves. Though certainly that is a glimmer I go looking for each year. To see the light yellow haze like a flaxen fog hovering in its branches. And it isn't just the way its long, draping limbs dip leaves into the lake, like a beaded, viridescent curtain that I can slide through on my kayak, as if passing into a magic world.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
though those things are already a lot for a tree to gift the world. For me, it is the way a willow seems to curl around you. There is something protective in its architecture. It's a place to shelter in the rain. To cool off on a sunny day. To hide away and read. Or just be with something bigger than you. To feel small and safe under its umbrella.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
I tracked across the broad open land on my way to the willow tree. The ground was springy and damp, the grass just beginning to show green again, and I'd worn my tall boots in case of any flooded spots. The snow had been gone for just a week or two, but the sun had been shining so brightly each day that it felt like we were riding downhill toward summer.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
in just my jeans and a sweater, I felt warmed through as I trod over the bare ground. Even this far off, I could smell the lake, the fresh scent of water, clear and mineral, just released from the ice, was in every breath I took. The steady plod of my feet and rising color in my cheeks made me feel like I was syncing up with the natural world around me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
Of course, I am nature myself and can never really be unstitched from that fabric. But after months inside, after weeks with barely a glimpse of the sun, or more than a few moments in the open air. You can feel like old friends who've gone far too long without a catch up. So I was breathing deep opening my eyes and ears to all that I could.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
A breeze began to nudge my hat from my head, and I reached up and swiped it off. The warmth of the sunlight the cool breeze around my temples. What a gift the world was today. In the distance, the willow tree was gaining size and detail. When I'd set out, it was just an indistinct dark spot on the horizon. The lake, a broad shimmer. Now I could hear the ripple of water at the shore.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
and the creaking of breaking ice further out. I turned a bit, deciding to go first to the water, then to my tree. Ah, to be alone in a place like this. The land rose. then dipped down in sandy spots at the edge of the lake. And I stood at the high point, looking down and looking out. Driftwood and scraps of tumbled grass and dead leaves dotted the sand.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
Tiny trails ran through and around all of it. Birds and small animals had left their mark. A lone bench sat on the bluff, and I found my way to it. Stretching my legs out, crossing my ankles, tipping my head back to let the sun warm my face. Sometimes we get caught up
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
and questions about what it all means, what we are meant to be achieving, where we are meant to end up, and by what age, and with what accolades. But what if just living is the point? What if we are like the birds and the trees, without a why, just alive because we are? On the far side of the lake, a gaggle of geese paddled through the water.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
It's all at NothingMuchHappens.com. Now, I've made a place for you to rest your mind. A very simple story to pull around you like a warm blanket. All you need to do is listen. I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
now stayed longer and longer with the scents, sounds, and sights. I let my heart rate slow, found myself sighing and even yawning. I turned on the bench, slinging my arm over its back, and looking toward the willow tree.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
It was forty feet tall, if it was an inch, and the span of its branches looked just as wide. I pushed up to my feet and started toward it. There were stepping stones dotted along the bluff,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
I'd read somewhere that willows have other names. Sometimes they are called sallows or osiers. And I liked the way both of those words felt in my mouth. Fossils of them have been found dating to some 40 or 50 million years ago.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
What a survivor, I thought, as I got closer and reached out to place my palm on its trunk. I closed my eyes and drew deep breaths through my nose. I imagined pulling a bit of whatever was in the tree, whatever made it, who and what it was. It's strength and adaptability. It's protective attitude and hopeful early bloom. I noticed how it felt in my chest and belly, in my legs and fingers.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
and looked for any spots that felt stopped up. Patiently, I kept my hand on the tree and my breath circling. And soon, my highways were clear. my back roads wide open. I opened my eyes and let my palm fall away from the bark, turned and leaned my back against it. I was calmed, quieted, Nothing to search for or achieve. I just was, as the tree and the water were. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
Our story tonight is called The Willow Tree.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
and make a home in this one. It's time. Turn off the light. Put down anything you've been looking at or working on.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
Though those things are already a lot for a tree to gift to the world, For me, it is the way a willow seems to curl around you. There is something protective in its architecture. It's a place to shelter in the rain, to cool off on a sunny day.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
To feel small and safe under its umbrella. I tracked across the broad, open land on my way to the willow tree. The ground was springy and damp. the grass just beginning to show green again, and I'd worn my tall boots in case of any flooded spots.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
In just my jeans and a sweater, I felt warmed through as I trod over the bare ground. Even this far off, I could smell the lake, the fresh scent of the water, clear and mineral, just released from the ice, was in every breath I took. The steady plod of my feet, the rising color in my cheeks, made me feel like I was sinking up with the natural world around me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
So I was breathing deep, opening my ears and eyes to all that I could. A breeze began to nudge my hat from my head, and I reached up and swiped it off.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
In the distance, the willow tree was gaining size and detail. When I'd set out, it was just an indistinct dark spot on the horizon. The lake, a broad shimmer. Now I could hear the ripple of water at the shore and the creaking of breaking ice further out. I turned a bit. deciding to go first to the water and then to my tree. Ah, to be alone in a place like this.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
And I stood at the high point, looking down and looking out Driftwood and scraps of tumbled grass and dead leaves dotted the sand.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
Birds and small animals had left their mark. A lone bench sat on the bluff, and I found my way to it. stretching my legs out and crossing my ankles, tipping my head back to let the sun warm my face. Sometimes we get caught up in questions about what it all means, what we are meant to be achieving, where we are meant to end up, and by what age, and with what accolades.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
But what if just living is the point?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
On the far side of the lake, a gaggle of geese paddled through the water. And I wondered if they had stayed through the winter or just returned from a few months away. My brain, so used to jumping ahead or floundering in the past, now stayed, longer and longer, with the scents and sounds and sights. I let my heart rate slow, found myself sighing and even yawning.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I create everything you hear, and nothing much happens.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
I turned on my bench, slinging my arm over its back, and looking toward the willow tree.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
It was forty feet tall, if it was an inch, and the span of its branches looked just as wide. I pushed up to my feet and started toward it. There were stepping stones dotted along the bluff, and I followed them, stretching out my stride to nearly leaps and places. They led away from the water, And eventually I was under the golden dome of blooming willow branches.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
I'd read somewhere that willows have other names.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
And I liked the way both of those words felt in my mouth.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
That's how long they have been, early to mark the spring and drape over water.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
The Willow Tree
I closed my eyes and drew deep breaths through my nose. I imagined pulling a bit of whatever was in the tree, whatever made it who and what it was, into me. Its strength and adaptability, its protective attitude and hopeful early bloom,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
I care about your sleep. It is always my first thought and priority in making this show. And sometimes you need extra help. Sometimes, even when your sleep hygiene is top tier, sleep doesn't come. Some nights, you might struggle to fall asleep. or wake after a few hours and toss and turn. I get it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
Try Sleep Breakthrough Drink risk-free with Bioptimizers 365-day money-back guarantee. And this is all in our show notes if you forget. Visit bioptimizers.com slash nothingmuch and use code nothingmuch for 10% off any order.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
unrolling blinds that we lower in the afternoon when the sun begins to drop.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
and a few dun brown leaves tumbled across the floorboards.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
So, a few weeks ago, when I'd begun readying for our first visitors in months, I'd opened the pocket doors between the formal dining room and the drawing room.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
ironing the creamy white tablecloths and putting together vases of roses that had been delivered from the greenhouse outside of town. The fireplaces were laid with seasoned logs, and when Chef arrived, and had gone straight down into the kitchens.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
Sycamore, my cat, and the inn's chief welcoming officer, had been sitting on windowsills and fireplace mantles, as I went room to room, batting the feather duster around and swatting at the curtain pull cords.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
since I'd be going up and down the many stairs countless times, helping guests with their bags and delivering extra towels on request. But I'd added my favorite pale pink sweater and some heart-dotted socks since it was Valentine's Day, after all.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
He raced from window to window, watching couples climbing from their vehicles, meeting them as they came through the door into the large entryway.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
The vacancy sign still hung on the gate at the road.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
That first evening, Chef prepared beautiful trays of small bites that we set out in the cozy library where our guests could serve themselves at their leisure.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
and I walked among the couples with bottles of sparkling juice and champagne.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
Chef had made a beautiful squash soup with coconut milk and ginger. And though I'd thought a few folks might find the pull of the restaurants in the village irresistible, no one left. Everyone seemed content to sip and snack, to listen to the music playing from the record player, and to relax by the fire.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
Sycamore and I. were in the butler's pantry, starting the coffee and getting out the sugar bowls and creamers for each table. One chef paused in the doorway on their way down to the kitchens.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. We give to a different charity each week, and this week we are giving to Operation Sight, who aim to provide access to life-changing eye surgeries. Through Operation Sight, we strive to restore vision and transform lives. Learn more in our show notes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
But having an inn full of guests and chef back by my side made me feel so happy and like everything was as it should be. First round of coffee cakes will be ready in a half hour, they said, over the brim of the coffee cup.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
By the way, they said in a low voice from the hall, you mentioned something in one of your letters, right after I left in November, about something you found the night of the Halloween party. I've been curious about it ever since.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
and apparently a loose-lipped moment of my own in a missive to chef.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
I opened my mouth, though I wasn't sure what I was going to say when Chef stopped me. Listen, it's your business, but I just want to suggest that there might be secrets I've stumbled upon in my time down in the kitchens that you could be interested in.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
They turned back toward the kitchens, and I looked down to where Sycamore was sitting on my foot. My mouth was hanging open.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
we'd like to thank a few of our recent premium subscribers whose support is making this show possible week after week. So thank you, Meg. Thanks, Rue. Thank you, Adelaide. And thank you, Nate.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
Sycamore's tail twitched with interest, and we both wandered back to the trays of coffee cups and sugar bowls. I took one and made my way to our winter breakfast room,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
The weekend had just begun. but it was promising to be an exciting one.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
For about a dime a day, you can get our whole catalog of this show, as well as our daytime show, Stories from the Village of Nothing Much, ad-free, with lots of bonuses, like the 8-hour Winter Favorite app that just dropped. Subscribe at NothingMuchHappens.com or through the link in our notes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
When your mind has something to focus on, we can shift you out of default mode and into task positive mode. And the task is just listening. It's why you can fall asleep while reading, but then close the book and you feel wide awake. You need that little task. And why not make that task pleasant and cozy and affirming? right?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little bit slower the second time through. If you wake later in the night and feel your brain begin to gear up, just put on another episode. You'll drop right back off. Our story tonight is called Valentine's at the Inn, Part One, and it's a story about guests arriving on a sunny, cold day to the warmth and charm of the village inn.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
It's also about breakfast, served on freshly ironed tablecloths in the drawing room, socks with hearts on them,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
When perimenopause hit me like a wrecking ball, it threw my sleep cycles so far off course that I felt like a different person. And sleep breakthrough drink from Bioptimizers has really helped. I fall asleep when I want to, and I sleep through the night without that 3 a.m. panic wake-up that had been haunting me. When I wake in the morning, I feel good, not groggy. I'm rested. My days are better.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
Put away anything you are looking at or working on. You are safe, and I will be here, watching over you with my voice. Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose. And sigh. Do that again. Fill it up. And let it out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
The porch wraps around the whole back of the house with tables and chairs. And at the far end, a swing is suspended from the ceiling. There are screens to keep the mosquitoes out. and rolling blinds that we lower in the afternoon when the sun begins to drop.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
But in February, breakfast on the porch just doesn't work out. The lake was frozen over, and several inches of snow lay on the ground. Our summer café tables were neatly stacked against the wall, and a few dun brown leaves tumbled across the porch boards. Luckily, the inn is not short of rooms.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
So a few weeks ago, when I'd begun readying for our first visitors in months, I'd opened the pocket doors between the formal dining room and the drawing room.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
I'd spent a few days dusting, ironing the creamy white tablecloths, and putting together vases of roses that had been delivered from the greenhouse outside of town. The fireplaces were laid with seasoned logs, and when Chef arrived and had gone straight down into the kitchens, the place began to fill with good smells.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
Sycamore, my cat, and the inn's chief welcoming officer had been sitting on windowsills and fireplace mantles as I went room to room, batting the feather duster around and swatting at the curtain pull cords.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
Today I dressed in my neat corduroy trousers and comfortable shoes, since I'd be going up and down the many stairs countless times, helping guests with their bags and delivering extra towels on request. but I'd added my favorite pale pink sweater and some heart-dotted socks, since it was Valentine's Day, after all.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
Around noon, the first cars had made it down the long drive to the inn, and Sycamore had been overcome with excitement. He raced from window to window, watching couples climbing from their vehicles, meeting them as they came through the door into the large entryway.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
For guests who had already had the pleasure of meeting Sycamore, there was a reunion of purrs, dare I say, an expectation of treats, and in any case, lots of ear scratches.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
The vacancy sign still hung on the gate at the road, but only by a room or two. And we found we definitely had our hands full. That first evening, Chef prepared beautiful trays of small bites that we set out in the cozy library, where our guests could serve themselves at their leisure.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
The fire was crackling and popping in the grate, and I walked among the couples with bottles of sparkling juice and champagne. Besides the crudités and dips, the voulevants and fruit, crackers and baguettes, Chef had made a beautiful squash soup with coconut milk and ginger. And though I thought a few folks might find the pull of the restaurants in the village irresistible, no one had left.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
Bioptimizers has flexible dosing, which I really like. My wife needs just a little bit, and I take a little more. And for folks looking for an option without melatonin, this is it. Ready to transform your sleep and wake up feeling refreshed. Visit bioptimizers.com slash nothingmuch and use code nothingmuch for 10% off any order. Don't settle for another restless night, my friends.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
Everyone seemed content to sip and snack, to listen to the music playing from the record player and relax by the fire.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
Sycamore and I were in the butler's pantry, starting the coffee. and getting out the sugar bowls and creamers for each table, when Chef paused in the doorway on their way down to the kitchens. We smiled at each other as I filled a cup and passed it over. It was good to see them in their apron, a neat bandana tied over their hair, and a pocket full of Sharpies.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
I love my quiet time here, alone but for Sycamore. But having an inn full of guests and chef packed by my side made me feel so happy, and like everything was as it should be. First round of coffee cakes will be ready in a half hour, they said, over the brim of the coffee cup. the smell of fresh coffee mixed with the old wood and the not-quite-nameable smell of the inn itself.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
They gave me a wink and turned back to the hall, took a few steps to the kitchen stairs, and stopped. By the way, they said in a low voice from the hall, you mentioned something in one of your letters right after I left in November. About something you found the night of the Halloween party? I've been curious about it ever since.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
I stuck my head out into the hall, and we eyeballed each other for a moment. There was a secret I was carrying around, but besides sycamore and apparently a loose-lipped moment of my own in a missive to Chef, I hadn't shared it with anyone.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
I opened my mouth, though I wasn't sure what I was going to say, when Chef stopped me. Listen, it's your business. But I just want to suggest that there might be secrets I've stumbled upon in my time down in the kitchens that you might be interested in.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
They turned back toward the kitchens. And I looked down to where Sycamore was sitting on my foot. My mouth was hanging open. Could Chef know things about the inn that I didn't? Sycamore's tail twitched with interest, and we both wandered back to the trays of coffee cups and sugar bowls. I took one and made my way to our winter breakfast room, where the fire was already burning bright.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Valentine's at the Inn, Part 1
As I laid out cups and bowls, the sun began to rise over the snowy landscape. The weekend had just begun, but it was promising to be an exciting one.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
I care about your sleep. It is always my first thought and priority in making this show. And sometimes you need extra help. Sometimes, even when your sleep hygiene is top tier, sleep doesn't come. Some nights, you might struggle to fall asleep. or wake after a few hours and toss and turn. I get it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
A neighbor was spreading mulch in their garden beds when each handful was a rich, reddish brown. In a backyard, an old potting shed was shingled in sun-baked, stained wood slats. And on porch steps, terracotta pots held blooming daffodils and Johnny jump-ups. The rust on an old mailbox caught my eye, and the ruddy chest of a robin flying past.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
Try Sleep Breakthrough Drink risk-free with Bioptimizers 365-day money-back guarantee. And this is all in our show notes if you forget. Visit bioptimizers.com slash nothingmuch and use code nothingmuch for 10% off any order.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
As I turned down Main Street and made my way into downtown, I spotted two people chatting outside the bakery, each with a dog on a leash. One was a puppy, much less than a year old.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
Her fur, a deep russet red. And the other dog was full grown, but half her size. his fur many shades of brown, sticking out all over, like he'd been hit with a dose of static electricity. As they chased around each other, play-bowing and jumping, their fur blended together and made exactly the shade of red-brown I was looking for today.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
in the window of the bookshop. I took a moment to look at each cover on display. One featured the face of a man with deep brown eyes. Another, a mysterious-looking brick house shrouded in fog. There was an aged bronze plaque in the alley, marking the oldest building in town. A ring in the window of the jewelry shop, with a big tawny brown stone set in it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
A flyer for piano lessons, with a drawing of an upright made of shiny chestnut wood. On my way back home, as the clouds shifted and the sun warmed my back, I felt the crayon and the coin in my pocket, textures and colors, sun and shadows, steps and slow breaths. I was grateful for this soft start to my day. Color Walk From the kitchen table, I could see the treetops moving in the breeze.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
It didn't look too strong, not even a wind, just a zephyr that stirred the new buds as they grew. My mug was nearly empty, but it still felt warm and comforting in my hands, and I savored the last sips. My gaze fell onto my plate, empty but for a few crumbs and a smear of raspberry jam from the English muffin I'd just enjoyed. I traced my finger along the plate's edge.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I write and read All the stories you'll hear on Nothing Much Happens. With audio engineering by Bob Wittersheim.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
It was plain white porcelain. but rimmed in a deep blue.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
And it reminded me of the thin-stemmed grape hyacinths that were popping up in the flowerbed beside my front door.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
I smiled into the dregs of my tea as an idea occurred to me. a way to spend the rest of the morning, sparked by the blue of the plate and the matching flowers. I hadn't gone on one in an age, but spring was the perfect time
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
Yes, today was made for a color walk. The idea was simple. Choose a color and then go for a walk. noticing all the places that color showed up. Each instance would become like a mooring post for a wandering mind.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
A color walk could be a solemn, moving meditation, or a jolly game of I spy. Moment to moment, it could be both.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
And in the spring, as the world leapt into color, opportunities to notice, to pay calm attention would abound. I set my plate and cup in the sink and went to a drawer in my desk with an idea.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
I wanted a way to pick a color for today without getting caught in an internal debate about which would be best. Sometimes, even when a decision didn't really matter, I could slip into a loop of comparing and rethinking.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
This walk was meant to be a way to rest that part of myself. So I needed to do something like flip a coin or roll a color die. From my drawer, I took out a familiar yellow and green box.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
The big one with the sharpener on the back that I'd treated myself to. on my last trip to the stationery store. I closed my eyes and flipped the top open, letting my fingers trail over the waxy tips of the crayons.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
We give to a different charity each week. This week we are giving to White Rock Bear Sanctuary, whose simple but noble purpose is to rescue and rehabilitate bears. You can learn more about them in our show notes. to subscribe to our premium feed, buy some cozy merch, or be reminded of promo codes for our lovely sponsors. Head to our show notes.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
They'd come organized, of course.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
but I was in the habit of pulling them out by the handful as I used them, and sticking them back in willy-nilly. So I truly had no idea even what family of color I might pull.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
My finger stopped on one, and I slid it from the pack. I paused to feel where the wax met the paper, how it was peeled back a bit from when I'd sharpened it last. I wondered if it would be a yellow, which I would spot in every daffodil and yield sign, or a shade of blue like the sky today. But when I finally blinked my eyes open,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
I saw I'd drawn good old burnt sienna. Huh, I said aloud. Didn't see that coming. This was a color that had helped me draw many tree trunks. and brick house fronts since my first pack of crayons, big enough to include it in grade school. It was a utilitarian stronghold of a color, not one I'd have picked myself for a whimsical stroll in the spring, and that made it perfect for today.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
I tucked the crayon into my pocket, for some reason wanting to bring it along, and went to the door to step into my shoes and take a thin jacket from the hook. Outside, I paused to zip up my jacket and feel the air on my skin.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
It was one of those spring days when the sky is full of puffy clouds.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
So minute to minute, we might be dazzled by sunlight or shrouded in shade. And with each shift, you'd likely be pushing back the sleeves of your jacket or tugging them back down. Still, just now, the sun shone on my face and the air smelled of fresh grass and last night's rain. I was just about to start off when I looked down and spotted a penny on the sidewalk. I smiled.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
We were off to a good start already. I squatted down to pick it up and turned it over in my palms. The ruddy copper color was tarnished and dark and was my first color spotting. As I stood, I saw that it was minted in the year I was born. I tucked it into my pocket beside the crayon. and began to walk.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
We've just released our April bonus episode over on the premium feed. It's a sweet story called Family Meal, and it takes place in a favorite village bistro before the doors open. We're also about to release our Spring Favorites episode of Much More Happens. That's over eight hours of sleepy storytelling to see you through the night.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
Now, with lots of practices like this, designed to help us be a bit more present, there's a chance to take it so far that you drive yourself crazy, that you try too hard and somehow feel you've failed. even though you actually can't. I reminded myself that my job wasn't to find absolutely everything that was dark brown or deep clay red.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
I didn't really have a job at all. I was just walking. and letting things be gently highlighted by my attention. I noticed last year's leaves caught around the post of a fence.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
The old maples faded to paler versions of themselves.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
A child on a bike whizzed past me, when I saw their sweater, was the same mahogany as my crayon. A neighbor was spreading mulch in their garden beds, and each handful was a rich, reddish brown. In a backyard, an old potting shed, was shingled in sun-baked, stained wood slats. And on porch steps, terracotta pots held blooming daffodils and Johnny jump-ups. The rust on an old mailbox caught my eye.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
and the ruddy chest of a robin flying past. As I turned down Main Street and made my way into downtown, I spotted two people chatting outside the bakery, each with a dog on a leash. One was a puppy, much less than a year old. Her fur, deep russet red.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
And the other dog was full grown, but half her size. His fur, many shades of brown, and sticking out all over, like he'd been hit with a dose of static electricity.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
as they chased around each other, play-bowing and jumping, their fur blended together and made exactly the shade of red-brown I was looking for today. In the window of the bookshop, I took a moment to look at each cover on display. One featured the face of a man with deep brown eyes. Another, a mysterious-looking brick house shrouded in fog.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
There was an aged bronze plaque in the alley, marking the oldest building in town. a ring in the window of the jewelry shop with a big tawny brown stone set in it, a flyer for piano lessons with a drawing of an upright made of shiny chestnut wood. On my way back home,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
All of this, plus the complete catalog, seven years of Nothing Much Happens ad-free, for just about a dime a day. Now, I'm going to tell you a bedtime story. It's a soft, simple place to rest your mind, a way to keep you from wandering. And just by listening, I'll train your brain to respond in kind, more quickly and easily. I'll tell the story twice.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
As the clouds shifted and the sun warmed my back, I felt the crayon and the coin in my pocket, textures and color, sun and shadows, steps and slow breaths. I was grateful. for this soft start to my day. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
and I'll go a little slower the second time through. If you wake later in the night, turn an episode right back on. You'll be back to sleep before you know it. Our story tonight is called Color Walk, and it's a story about a soft way to move through the world on a spring day.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
It's also about a box of crayons in the desk drawer, a thin jacket, a cool breeze, storefronts and shop windows, and elevating the everyday with calm attention. Lights out, friends.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
Get snuggled down into your sheets and get your favorite pillow in just the right spot. Let's do a quick muscle release tonight. And we'll pair it with your deep breaths. We're going to do three tonight. I know, we're getting wild over here. I want you to breathe in. And squeeze all the muscles in your lower body. Squeeze your legs, your glutes, even your toes. Hold it and then sigh it out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
When perimenopause hit me like a wrecking ball, it threw my sleep cycles so far off course that I felt like a different person. And sleep breakthrough drink from Bioptimizers has really helped. I fall asleep when I want to, and I sleep through the night without that 3 a.m. panic wake-up that had been haunting me. When I wake in the morning, I feel good, not groggy. I'm rested. My days are better.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
Breathe in. Squeeze everything in your upper body. Arms and fists. Hold it and let it go. Okay, one more. Breathe in. And just squeeze everything temples to toes. Squeeze and hold one more second and feel the release of the tension in your body.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
Good. Color walk. From the kitchen table. I could see the treetops moving in the breeze. It didn't look too strong, not even a wind, just a zephyr that stirred the new buds as they grew. My mug was nearly empty, but it still felt warm and comforting in my hands. and I savored the last sips.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
My gaze fell onto my plate, empty but for a few crumbs and a smear of raspberry jam from the English muffin I'd just enjoyed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
I traced my finger along the plate's edge.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
It was plain white porcelain, but with a rim of deep blue. And it reminded me of the thin-stemmed grape hyacinths that were popping up in the flowerbed beside my front door.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
I smiled into the dregs of my tea as an idea occurred to me. a way to spend the rest of the morning, sparked by the blues of the plate and the matching flowers.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
I hadn't gone on one in an age, but spring was the perfect time to revisit a favorite pastime. Yes, today was made for a color walk,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
The idea was simple. Choose a color, and then go for a walk, noticing all the places that color showed up. Each instance would become like a mooring post for a wandering mind.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
A color walk could be a solemn, moving meditation, or a jolly game of I spy.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
Moment to moment, it could be both. And in the spring, as the world leapt into color, opportunities to notice, to pay calm attention would abound. I set my plate and cup in the sink and went to a drawer in my desk with an idea.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
I wanted a way to pick a color for today without getting caught in an internal debate about which would be best.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
Sometimes, even when a decision didn't really matter, I could slip into a loop of comparing and rethinking. This walk was meant to be a way to rest that part of myself.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
So I needed to do something like flip a coin or roll a color die. From my drawer, I took out a familiar yellow and green box, the big one with a sharpener on the back, that I'd treated myself to on my last trip to the stationery store.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
I closed my eyes and flipped the top open, letting my fingers trail over the waxy tips of the crayons.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
They'd come organized, of course, but I was in the habit of pulling them out by the handful as I used them and sticking them back in willy-nilly. so I truly had no idea even what family of color I might pull.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
Bioptimizers has flexible dosing, which I really like. My wife needs just a little bit, and I take a little more. And for folks looking for an option without melatonin, this is it. Ready to transform your sleep and wake up feeling refreshed. Visit bioptimizers.com slash nothingmuch and use code nothingmuch for 10% off any order. Don't settle for another restless night, my friends.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
My finger stopped on one, and I slid it from the pack. I paused to feel where the wax met the paper, how it was peeled back a bit from when I'd sharpened it last. I wondered if it would be a yellow, which I would spot in every daffodil, a yield sign, or a shade of blue, like the sky today.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
But when I finally blinked my eyes open, I saw I'd drawn good old burnt sienna.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
I said aloud, didn't see that coming.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
This was a color that had helped me draw many tree trunks and brick house fronts since my first pack of crayons, big enough to include it in grade school. It was a utilitarian stronghold of a color Not one I'd have picked myself for a whimsical stroll in the spring.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
And that made it perfect for today. I tucked the crayon into my pocket, for some reason wanting to bring it along. I went to the door to step into my shoes and take a thin jacket from the hook. Outside, I paused to zip up my jacket and feel the air on my skin. It was one of those spring days when the sky was full of puffy clouds.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
So minute to minute, you might be dazzled by sunlight or shrouded in shade. And with each shift, you'd likely be pushing back the sleeves of your jacket, or tugging them back down.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
Still, just now, the sun shone on my face, and the air smelled of fresh grass and last night's rain. was just about to start off when I looked down and spotted a penny on the sidewalk. I smiled. We were off to a good start already. I squatted down to pick it up and turned it over in my palm. The ruddy copper color was tarnished and dark and was my first color spotting.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
As I stood, I saw that it was minted the year I was born. I tucked it into my pocket beside the crayon and began to walk.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
Now, with lots of practices like this, designed to help us be a bit more present, there's a chance to take it so far that you drive yourself crazy, that you try too hard and somehow feel you've failed, even though you actually can't. I reminded myself that my job wasn't to find absolutely everything that was dark brown or a deep clay red. I didn't really have a job at all.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
I was just walking and letting things be gently highlighted by my attention. I noticed last year's leaves caught around the post of a fence.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Color Walk
The old maples faded to paler versions of themselves. A child on a bike whizzed past me when I saw their sweater was the same mahogany as my crayon.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Welcome to Season 15 of Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
The brothers had nosed through my collection, and so I had named them Dolomite, Feldspar, and Steve. Listen, it makes sense if you know them. Steve meowed from the post, clearly enjoying his new piece of furniture. And I smiled at them as I finished putting everything away. Steam was rising from the pot on the stove, and I could smell the cinnamon I'd dropped in.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I turned on the light over the range and turned off the overhead and sighed again. My home was in order.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
We were stocked up and ready to stay put for a bit. on the stairs as I headed up to change, out of my jeans and sweater and into my PJs. It was nearly three o'clock after all. I passed Dolomite.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
He was my shy boy. And I stopped to give him a few pats. He had heard his brothers playing downstairs and had finally decided to creep down and join the fun. He slunk past me and I kept climbing.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
From my bedroom window, I looked up and down the street seeing lit windows, the flicker of fires going.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
In another few weeks, this cold spell would move on. The sun would last a bit longer each day. But for now, we'd enjoy the world inside and watch the snow fall from our windows. window weather. This first week of January was just bitter cold. The snow lay thick on the ground and long icicles hung from the eaves. I'd had to go out. A few errands that couldn't be put off any longer.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
And now, as I wound my way back home, I was glad to know I wouldn't have to leave again. the afternoon light was dim. We were still a few hours from sunset, but it looked like it might happen at any minute. A lot of houses were still strung with holiday lights. and the gleam of them in the overcast atmosphere felt like a beacon guiding me home.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
It's always an odd in-between feeling at this time of year.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Wanting a fresh start, but needing the comfort and coziness left over from the holidays to get through to it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I found it best to take it in steps. One weekend, I'd take down the tree. The next, put away the Christmas village.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
The steady rhythm of my voice will guide you right to sleep. This is a form of brain training. So if you're new here, Give us a month or so of regular use to achieve best results. I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through. If you wake later in the night, if you feel the wheels in your mind starting to turn, just push play again.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
The lights I'd leave up until a very nice weekend rolled around. say, in March, when it was a joy to be outside for a few hours. And I'd let myself appreciate the process of untangling the strands and boxing them up.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I circled past the skating rink in downtown, and saw that not a single soul was out on it today.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
It was just brutally cold, and there was no amount of bundling that could make it fun to play outside.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I turned past the park where kids weren't making snowmen and wound through the neighborhood to my house. All along my street smoke rose from chimneys and I was glad to see So many of us settled in for the day. As I turned into my driveway and waited for the garage door to lift, snow began to fall. Perfect timing. It felt like it had held off just for me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I drove into my garage and pushed the button, letting it close behind me. Does anyone else do this? Wait for the garage to close before you get out of the car. It feels like being closed in a decompression chamber. A layer of safety between me and the whole world. It was silly, a metaphor more than anything else. But whenever I did it, I found I sighed deeply in the car.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I began to unpack the groceries from the trunk, setting the bags at the top of the few steps from the mudroom into the kitchen, then slowly pulled off my boots and coat, hung up my scarf, stuffed my gloves into the sleeve of my coat. Another sigh. In the kitchen, I emptied the grocery sacks. I love to fill my kitchen with citrus at this time of year.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
and topped up a bowl on the counter with sumo oranges, ruby red grapefruits, and Meyer lemons. The sharp, sweet scents clung to my fingers. and I decided to start a simmer pot on the stove to add their peels to. Most days in the winter, I kept a pot simmering to soften the air. My dad, Vanilla, or cardamom pods to it. But one of my favorite additions was orange and lemon rinds.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
When they simmered, they released a soft floral scent, sweet and homey. As I stood at the sink, filling the pot, I looked out into the yard and saw the snow was coming down thickly now. This was what my mother called window weather, as in excellent weather,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
to enjoy from inside your cozy house, to be watched from the window.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I set the pot on the stove and lit the burner and went back to sorting groceries.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Our story tonight is called Window Weather, and it's a story about the deep cold of midwinter and the calm, cozy feeling of watching it from your window. It's also about oranges and lemons, bells on collars, a well-stocked pantry and fridge, and the joy of getting into your pajamas at three in the afternoon.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I had a big sack of potatoes for the shepherd's pie I meant to make later.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Carrots and peas, onions and brown lentils. I'd also bought a big cabbage to roast in the oven. Boxes of crackers and containers of olives. Canned chickpeas and beans. Hardy, stick-to-your-ribs stuff that would see me through these frigid days. There were oats for porridge. arborio and jasmine rice, ramen and pastina, and packages of broth.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I'd bought coffee beans and a few boxes of tea, cinnamon sticks, of which I added a few to the simmer pot, and a packet of lemon drop candies. From the bakery, I had a loaf of sandwich bread, a thick slice of focaccia, a half dozen oatmeal cookies, and an almond croissant for breakfast tomorrow.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I'd also stopped at the bookshop before it closed for their annual vacation, and I'd picked up the new book, for my book club.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
It was a thriller that I'd heard from more than one friend, was impossible to put down and easy to read all in one day.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I heard a tinkling bell and then another
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
and saw two of my three cats wandering into the kitchen to inspect the purchases. There was a stack of canned food for them, a bag of their kibble, and a fresh scratching post they could fight over.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I set it on the floor in the corner of the dining room and let them dig in.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I love dogs, too, very much, but had to admit that in these frigid days, I was glad that none of us needed to be walked or let outside.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
They were brothers, my cats, all three of them, and had showed up at the shelter when they were just kittens. All they'd had were each other,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
And though it was a very big step to go from zero cats to three, I decided I could handle it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
They hadn't even had names. And when they first came home, stepped out of their carrier, and started to explore, I found them drawn to the bowl of stones on my entryway table. I was a hobbyist beachcomber in the summertime and had found lots of pretty rocks. even had a tumbler to polish them up. The brothers had nosed through my collection, and so I had named them Dolomite, Feldspar, and Steve.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Listen, it makes sense if you know them.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Steve meowed from the post, clearly enjoying his new piece of furniture, and I smiled at them as I finished putting everything away. Steam was rising from the pot on the stove, and I could smell the cinnamon I'd dropped in.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I turned on the light over the range and turned off the overhead and sighed again. My home was in order. We were stocked up and ready to stay put for a bit.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
on the stairs, as I headed up to change, out of my jeans and sweater and into my PJs. It was nearly three o'clock, after all. I passed Dolomite.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Make yourself as snug and comfortable as you can.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
He was my shy boy, and I stopped to give him a few pats.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
He had heard his brothers playing downstairs and had finally decided to creep down and join the fun.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
He slunk past me and I kept climbing. From my bedroom window, I looked up and down the street. seeing lit windows, the flicker of fires going. In another few weeks, this cold spell would move on. The sun would last a bit longer each day. But for now, we'd enjoy the world inside, and watch the snow fall from our windows. Sweet dreams.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Feel how good it is to be in bed, to be at the end of your day. Whatever today was is what today was. And now we are here.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Draw a deep breath. in through your nose and sigh from your mouth. Again, in and out.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I read and write all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. with audio engineering by Bob Wittersheim. We give to a different charity each week. And this week, we are giving to Sesame Workshop. Mission-driven, child-focused. Helping children grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. Learn more in our show notes. I appreciate you listening to this little bit of housekeeping.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Good. Window weather. This first week of January was just bitter cold. The snow lay thick on the ground, and long icicles hung from the eaves.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I'd had to go out, a few errands that couldn't be put off any longer.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
And now as I wound my way back home, I was so glad to know I wouldn't have to leave again. The afternoon light was dim.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
We were still a few hours from sunset, but it looked like it might happen at any minute.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
a lot of houses were still strung with holiday lights, and the gleam of them in the overcast atmosphere felt like a beacon guiding me home. It was always an odd, in-between feeling at this time of year.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
wanting a fresh start, but needing the comfort and coziness left over from the holidays to get through it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I found it best to take it in steps. One weekend, I'd take down the tree. The next, I'd put away the Christmas village.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
The outdoor lights I'd leave up until a very nice weekend rolled around, say in March, when it was a joy to be outside for a few hours and let myself appreciate the process of untangling the strands and boxing them up. I circled past the skating rink in downtown and saw that not a single soul was out on it today.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
It was just brutally cold, and there was no amount of bundling that could make it fun to play outside.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I turned past the park where kids weren't making snowmen and wound through the neighborhood to my house.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
All along my street, smoke rose from chimneys, and I was glad to see so many of us settled in for the day. As I turned into my driveway and waited for the garage door to lift, snow began to fall.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Perfect timing. It felt like it had held off just for me. I drove into my garage and pushed the button. letting it close behind me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Does anyone else do this? Wait for the garage to close before you get out of the car?
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
It feels like being closed in a decompression chamber. a layer of safety between me and the whole world. It was silly, a metaphor more than anything else. But whenever I did it, I found I sighed deeply in my car.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I began to unpack the groceries from the trunk, setting the bags at the top of the few steps from the mudroom into the kitchen, then slowly pulled off my boots and coat, hung up my scarf,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
and stuffed my gloves into the sleeve of my coat.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Another sigh. In the kitchen, I emptied the grocery sacks.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I love to fill my kitchen with citrus at this time of year.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
and topped up a bowl on the counter with sumo oranges, ruby red grapefruits, and Meyer lemons.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
The sharp, sweet scents clung to my fingers, and I decided to start a simmer pot on the stove to add their peels to.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
At the beginning of our eps, if you sometimes find yourself saying, along with me, with audio engineering by Bob Wittersheim.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Most days in the winter, I kept a pot simmering to soften the air. I'd add vanilla or cardamom pods to it. But one of my favorite additions was orange and lemon rinds. When they simmered, they released a soft floral scent, sweet and homey. As I stood at the sink, filling the pot, I looked out into the yard and saw the snow was coming down thickly now.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
This was what my mother called window weather, as in excellent weather to enjoy from inside your cozy house, to be watched from the window.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I set the pot on the stove and lit the burner and went back to sorting the groceries.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I had a big sack of potatoes for the shepherd's pie I meant to make later.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Carrots and peas, onions and brown lentils. I'd also bought a big cabbage to roast in the oven.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Boxes of crackers and containers of olives. canned chickpeas and beans, hearty stick-to-your-ribs stuff that would see me through these frigid days.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
There were oats for porridge, arborio and jasmine rice, ramen and pastina, and packages of broth. I'd bought coffee beans and a few boxes of tea, cinnamon sticks, of which I added a few to the simmer pot, and a packet of lemon drop candies. From the bakery, I had a loaf of sandwich bread, a thick slice of focaccia, a half-dozen oatmeal cookies, and an almond croissant for breakfast tomorrow.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
Well, we made some merch for that. And our little shop has some really great things in it these days.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I'd also stopped at the bookshop before I'd closed for their annual vacation and picked up the new book from my book club
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
It was a thriller that I'd heard from more than one friend was impossible to put down and easy to read all in one day. I heard a tinkling bell and then another and saw two of my three cats wandering in the kitchen. to check out the purchases.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
There was a stack of canned food for them, a bag of their kibble, and a fresh scratching post they could fight over. I set it on the floor in the corner of the dining room and let them dig in.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
You can color some scenes from the village, snuggle up with our weighted pillow, and of course sign up for ad-free and bonus episodes through our premium feeds. Learn more in our show notes or at nothingmuchappens.com. Now, I have a story to tell you. It is a place to rest your mind. And as you listen, you'll find yourself relaxing more and more.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
I love dogs, too, very much, but had to admit that in these frigid days, I was glad that none of us needed to be walked or let outside. They were brothers, my cats, all three of them, and had showed up at a shelter.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
when they were just kittens. All they'd had were each other.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
And though it was a big step to go from zero cats to three, I decided I could handle it.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Window Weather
They hadn't even had names. And when they first came home, stepped out of their carrier and started to explore. I found them drawn to the bowl of stones on my entryway table. I was a hobbyist beachcomber in the summertime and had found lots of pretty rocks. even had a tumbler to polish them up.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Restoration & The Lady in the Painting
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories you'll hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Restoration & The Lady in the Painting
Of course, I'll read the story twice, going a little slower the second time through.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Restoration & The Lady in the Painting
And that is when you will fall asleep. Our stories tonight are called Restoration and The Lady in the Painting.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Restoration & The Lady in the Painting
clues on a scrap of paper, and the feeling of being so connected to what you're doing that time passes without notice.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Restoration & The Lady in the Painting
Now. Lights out. Get comfy. Notice how the sheets feel against your skin. How heavy and tired your limbs are. You are about to fall asleep. And you will sleep deeply all night.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Restoration & The Lady in the Painting
Good. Restoration.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Restoration & The Lady in the Painting
Your support makes this possible.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Restoration & The Lady in the Painting
Enjoy. Now you know how this works. I've prepared a place for you to tuck into and rest.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. Now since every episode is someone's first let me say something about how this works. When your mind is gently engaged sleep is more accessible.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
Just as I was reflecting on what the odds of this coincidence might be, I heard my name called from the counter and went to retrieve my drink.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
It was really delicious. I can't say that I would have been able to identify the flavor as miso, but what I loved about it was that the sweetness sat on top of this balanced richness. It wasn't just sugar that sometimes left me feeling a bit sick when I got too much.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
I caught the eye of the barista and gave them a little applause.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
of the other recent harmonies I'd noticed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
That one made me smile. I'd been going through my garage,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
Then, just a few hours later, I'd been at the mailbox, fishing out circulars and envelopes,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
and her person had smilingly nodded. He'd added that her name was Floridale.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
Let it sink in that you are in bed and about to fall asleep. Maybe this is a moment you've been waiting for all day, and now it's here. Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose and sigh. Again, fill it up and let it out with sound.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
Light bulbs slash bathroom vanity. Oh, that one was interesting too. I'd been in the grocery store. when it was busy and pulled my cart into a little corner by the birthday candles to double check my list.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
The very next morning, I'd been rubbing bleary eyes in front of the mirror when I'd reached for the light bulb and heard a pop.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
what the right word for them was.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
Anytime I noticed a little echo in my day, some small moment when something was mirrored, a thought I'd had appearing in the real world, a word I'd just learned uttered by a stranger at the next table in a cafe.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
That sounded good to me, so when they popped up,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
I'd started by looking for a soup recipe to make for dinner, but ended up in the dessert section, a frequent happening for me.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
I'd been intrigued, but not interested enough to actually attempt the recipe. In the end, I'd gone with a basic split-piece soup for supper and forgotten about the sweet miso idea.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
A minute later, just as I was reflecting on what the odds of this coincidence might be, I heard my name called from the counter and went to retrieve my drink. The ceramic cup was warm in my hands, and the barista had made a pretty plump snowman in the foam art on top.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
You know this if you've ever been unable to keep your eyes open. when reading in bed at night. But then, what happens? You click off the light, slip down into your sheets, and suddenly you're wide awake again. It's because that gentle engagement went away. So just by listening, we will keep that element in place. And before you know it, you'll be waking up tomorrow feeling rested and relaxed.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
Huh, I can't say that I would have been able to identify the flavor as miso.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
It wasn't just sugar that sometimes left me feeling a bit sick when I got too much.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
I caught the eye of the barista and gave them a little applause.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
Oh, that one made me smile. I'd been going through my garage, looking for the right-sized Allen wrench to tighten up my bookcase. When I'd been sidetracked by a box of tulip bulbs I'd meant to plant last fall. I'd taken a few packets of bulbs from the box and was reading the names of the varieties.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
When I'd asked if I could say hello, and her person had smilingly nodded, he'd added that her name was Floridale.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
I had been in the grocery store when it was busy and pulled my cart into a little corner by the birthday candles to double-check my list. Just as I was attempting to merge back into traffic,
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
I'd reached for it to return it to its place, then had a faint memory of looking for new bulbs a while back, coming up with a single dusty one in the back of my linen closet. so back into the cart they went. The very next morning, I'd been rubbing bleary eyes in front of the mirror. When I'd reached for the light switch and heard a pop, the bulb had blown.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
Well, well, well, I'd said, as I caught up my toothbrush in the low light.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
or if this was a new occurrence. I didn't even know what the right word for them was. I'd picked harmonies because that was how they felt.
Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep
Little Harmonies
Our story tonight is called Little Harmonies, and it's a story about small bits of ordinary magic that happen every day. It's also about new specials at the coffee shop, tulip bulbs, and a dog met at the mailbox. notes jotted down in a journal, and the feeling that you've tuned into a special frequency that you might have missed before.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Everyone, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I write and read all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens. Audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim. Now since every episode is someone's first let me say something about how this works. When your mind is gently engaged sleep is more accessible.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
Just as I was reflecting on what the odds of this coincidence might be, I heard my name called from the counter and went to retrieve my drink.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
It was really delicious. I can't say that I would have been able to identify the flavor as miso, but what I loved about it was that the sweetness sat on top of this balanced richness. It wasn't just sugar that sometimes left me feeling a bit sick when I got too much.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
I caught the eye of the barista and gave them a little applause.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
That one made me smile. I'd been going through my garage,
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
Then, just a few hours later, I'd been at the mailbox, fishing out circulars and envelopes,
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
and her person had smilingly nodded. He'd added that her name was Floridale.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
Let it sink in that you are in bed and about to fall asleep. Maybe this is a moment you've been waiting for all day, and now it's here. Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose and sigh. Again, fill it up and let it out with sound.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
Light bulbs slash bathroom vanity. Oh, that one was interesting too. I'd been in the grocery store. when it was busy and pulled my cart into a little corner by the birthday candles to double check my list.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
The very next morning, I'd been rubbing bleary eyes in front of the mirror when I'd reached for the light bulb and heard a pop.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
Anytime I noticed a little echo in my day, some small moment when something was mirrored, a thought I'd had appearing in the real world, a word I'd just learned uttered by a stranger at the next table in a cafe.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
That sounded good to me, so when they popped up,
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
I'd started by looking for a soup recipe to make for dinner, but ended up in the dessert section, a frequent happening for me.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
I'd been intrigued, but not interested enough to actually attempt the recipe. In the end, I'd gone with a basic split-piece soup for supper and forgotten about the sweet miso idea.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
A minute later, just as I was reflecting on what the odds of this coincidence might be, I heard my name called from the counter and went to retrieve my drink. The ceramic cup was warm in my hands, and the barista had made a pretty plump snowman in the foam art on top.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
You know this if you've ever been unable to keep your eyes open. when reading in bed at night. But then, what happens? You click off the light, slip down into your sheets, and suddenly you're wide awake again. It's because that gentle engagement went away. So just by listening, we will keep that element in place. And before you know it, you'll be waking up tomorrow feeling rested and relaxed.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
Huh, I can't say that I would have been able to identify the flavor as miso.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
It wasn't just sugar that sometimes left me feeling a bit sick when I got too much.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
I caught the eye of the barista and gave them a little applause.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
Oh, that one made me smile. I'd been going through my garage, looking for the right-sized Allen wrench to tighten up my bookcase. When I'd been sidetracked by a box of tulip bulbs I'd meant to plant last fall. I'd taken a few packets of bulbs from the box and was reading the names of the varieties.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
When I'd asked if I could say hello, and her person had smilingly nodded, he'd added that her name was Floridale.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
I had been in the grocery store when it was busy and pulled my cart into a little corner by the birthday candles to double-check my list. Just as I was attempting to merge back into traffic,
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
I'd reached for it to return it to its place, then had a faint memory of looking for new bulbs a while back, coming up with a single dusty one in the back of my linen closet. so back into the cart they went. The very next morning, I'd been rubbing bleary eyes in front of the mirror. When I'd reached for the light switch and heard a pop, the bulb had blown.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
Well, well, well, I'd said, as I caught up my toothbrush in the low light.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
or if this was a new occurrence. I didn't even know what the right word for them was. I'd picked harmonies because that was how they felt.
Opravičujemo se za vse nevšečnosti
Španski borci 🇪🇸
Our story tonight is called Little Harmonies, and it's a story about small bits of ordinary magic that happen every day. It's also about new specials at the coffee shop, tulip bulbs, and a dog met at the mailbox. notes jotted down in a journal, and the feeling that you've tuned into a special frequency that you might have missed before.