My wife and I have the house to ourselves for several days over this 4th of July weekend, as my sister invited our kids to visit her in California. This is the first vacation for them away from us, and although they were a little nervous, I think the time is right. I would have liked all four of us to go, but my wife is too sick to travel that far, and I cannot take time off work this month. So the kids get a chance to spend some quality time with their aunt, and we get a sneak preview of the empty nest.

I have been putting in long days, up to 11 hours occasionally, and so the way I spent the 4th of July was mostly a lot of naps. As my wife has CFIDS, this put us on a similar schedule (although I don’t have to deal with chronic pain, so it’s not symmetric). When we were awake, we read to each other or watched a rented movie.

Today was nearly the same. This afternoon, when she fell asleep again, I found myself awake and able to write, so I spent time catching up on the hundreds of emails that have piled up in my inbox over the past few weeks. If you got an email from me this afternoon, you’re one of a couple of dozen I sent in a two-hour window.

I also posted a bit to this blog, and am trying to catch up on some other writing that has languished. It’s nice. It’s quiet. My daily life runs at such intensity that it’s a real relief just to stop and enjoy the slower pace.

The downside is that when I’m living at a slower pace, 24 hours goes by faster, subjectively, than the same 24 lived on fast forward. It reminds me of the conundrum faced by those who practice calorie restriction in an attempt to live longer: you’ll be around longer, but you’ll be hungry all the time. Hm.