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03/07/2004: "A Few Hours in Heaven"

Today I spent a few hours in heaven.

Mel gave me a hammock for my birthday last year. Not one of those fancy-schmancy canvas jobs with the spreader bars, but a real hammock of knotted strings that you hang between two trees. A real hammock that can tip you ass-end over teakettle if you get too ambitious.

I've had one before. When I was in high school, I bought a cheapo string hammock and tied it between two trees in the back yard. Fortunately, it didn't take too many butt-in-the-grass episodes to master the hang of getting in and out. I could lie in that hammock for hours, watching the leaves wave to me and the clouds morph from one shape to another.

Eventually, it rotted away from too many years in the elements, but during its lifetime, it provided many escapes from the real world. I never replaced it because by that time, I was out on my own, in and out of various apartments in various places, with no trees in sight.

Last year's timing of the arrival of my new hammock was not the best. My birthday occurs at the height of summer, just when you want to spend all your time indoors or under water, but not outside. Then it rained every weekend all fall.

But today, the temperature, humidity, and wind aligned perfectly, creating one of those days that make you glad you're alive. After I got home from my usual Sunday morning trip to the grocery store, Mel announced that all further trips outside the house were cancelled and that we would be spending the afternoon in the yard.

Considering that my back was out of sorts for one reason or another, I didn't feel up to yard work. Mel suggested I set up the hammock, get a book, and read all afternoon. I'm so glad she did. The frame was already set up. (We have only one tree in the back yard, not two, so we had to settle for a steel frame instead of the traditional two trees.) Setting up the hammock itself took mere minutes.

It took a bit of effort and a little spotting from Mel to remember how to maintain my balance. But once I got into the hammock and settled in (with only a few more "Mel, will you get me a pillow" or whatevers), I remembered why I loved hammocks.

When the temperature is neither hot nor cold and the breeze is just a tad better than gentle, you become weightless. (Believe me, that's some miracle for someone of my size.) Nothing hurts. You float in suspended animation. The hammock envelopes you like a cocoon and restricts your movement to some degree. But you don't feel trapped. No. It feels like a body-long hug.

This, if anything, is what heaven must feel like. Peaceful, no stress, no nothing. Pure relaxation. There was momentary concern when a dove landed on a tree branch directly above my face. Fortunately, it soon flew away without adding to the ambience.

Eventually, I finished reading through the Sunday newspaper that I had brought out, so I settled back for a nap. Bub hopped in with me and napped on my stomach. His purrs melded with the sound of oak leaves shifting in the wind and soon I dropped off to sleep.

I hope I didn't snore.