Different names for the same things
I have a new favorite spot. It's my own little secret spot in this vast metropolis. Well, my own little secret spot that I share with 50,000 other people, that is. It's a tiny Japanese garden slash pier-like structure overlooking the Jersey skyline in Battery Park City. People go there to eat or read or stare at the water but there seems to be an unspoken vow of silence. I sat on a bench beneath the shadow of a pole and ate my yogurt while watching the waves actually crash onto the thick beams supporting the wooden floor planks.
Lately, I have taken to picking up a yogurt parfait for lunch from the deli and taking it to any of the multitude of small parks in my area. I haven't had any coffee apart from my morning mocha for a week. On the walk back from the park, I get tea and sip it throughout the afternoon.
Today I discovered what happens when sudden caffeine withdrawal is combined with minimal nutrition and slumber. (I used to drink up to five cups a day.) I suddenly felt woozy in the middle of the afternoon and had to go up to the nurse, who is notorious for her lectures on the benefits of herbal tea. I could barely focus on her voice as she listed my shortcomings: too little sleep, too little exercise, poor nutrition. I didn't even mention the coffee as she shuddered at the horrible fact that I sometimes drank black tea in lieu of green, herbal or decaf. I was allowed to lie down for 20 minutes and was sent down with stern advice to sleep 7-8 hours, walk 30 minutes daily, eat lots of veggies, stop using cotton buds to clean my ears, shun Tylenol and take cough suppressant for my cold only if it keeps me up at night.
With that in mind, I shall bid thee fond adieu, Internet, as
I've got plans to beat my alarm clock.
