Just as I can count on the certainty of the trees budding in the spring, every April, I, like most people living in New England, start to open my windows with regularity to let in the fresh air. The first windows I go for are usually the last windows that I closed in the winter. These are the windows that are in my bedroom. Warm (ish) April days are the best because they, typically, lead into cool April nights. You know, the kinds of nights wherein an open window lets in a cool breeze that makes you want to snuggle into your warm bed. Because of this, even though I start to open my windows in April, I, typically, don’t remove my warm, goose down duvet from my bed. That is, until it was over 90 degrees last week…
With a string of several very warm days, the nights also stayed warm and even an open window couldn’t combat the warm temperatures of my bedroom. Refusing to put on air conditioning, I decided to counter the unusual heat by removing the flannel cover on my duvet. However, after one restless warm night with very little sleep, I figured (after checking the forecast) that I would remove the duvet from the bed all together and just use a lightweight cover. But I didn’t want to put the warm duvet away for the season as the forecast also predicted that April would soon get back to evening temperatures that could bring a morning frost. I decided, instead, to roll down the duvet and leave it at the end of the bed, lest I wanted (or needed) to grab it to cover myself in the middle of the night. But the thing about leaving a feather-filled duvet without a cover on it is that it becomes somewhat slippery…
Soon enough, the duvet ended up on the floor at the foot of the bed, of which I only discovered this when I tripped over it on my way to the bathroom in the early morning hours. Having nearly bonked my head on the nearby wardrobe, I decided that it would be best if I put the duvet back on the bed and covered myself, opening the far window even wider so that I could let in more “cool” air. But I don’t think I really fell back to sleep as I was too warm and (now) too worried that I would trip again should I kick the duvet off the bed. The next night, in my quest for a good night’s sleep, I decided to wear my summer pajamas and open the windows WIDE. I also took off the duvet, folded it neatly and left it on a nearby chair. Soon enough, I woke up shivering as the windows were now letting in the (finally) cool April evening air. I managed to retrieve the duvet and toss it over me, rewarding myself for not having (yet) put it away. Again, however, I couldn’t fall back to sleep as all the bed-covering confusion started to make me feel like I was a month behind with all my spring gardening and chores because this type of bedtime behavior is usually reserved for…
… May! May!    
Kathy Naumann, possessor of NATURALLY curly hair and the understanding that you can’t control everything!

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