Staying in Bed

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 18, 21 July 1934, Page 19

Staying in Bed

There is a^vast gap between striving to remain-.noranally up and.at length succumbing to a.poriod in bed. To the last there'seenis nO real reason for go.ing^tO'b'ed.^rjßmafks an' English writer). One wiU'certainly 'bo better on the niorrow,< and ,tke,rest that is 'recommended fills one .-with: self-consciousnessl and a sense of making a*fuss.; Once one is in bed,1, onevisvprone. withs admiration at one's own herQism, in.'resisting. Bed becomes normal instead of- extravagant, It is as though' all the'world Iwere 'really there .to- promote ; bed, to- fetch and carry, to; pay visits,: to1 produce the necessary st/amps,; write the < necessary postcards. -. , ' '■•'..:

The first day in.bed,' while it seenis as though it should have had any num-ber-of predecessors, is, perhaps, unduly long:. There are things/to regulate; that affair ; of. the .light, -that .pillow which is so much more comfortable than the next; Pood on a tray-has, yet to learn a routine; the, clocks position might be bettered. But once all this is settled, then, bea prevails, becomes a routine, becomes the normal. The avocations for bed,.which; have been provided, grow less strenuous. In : the : morning there is much to: do .with matters of toilet alone.'Any gaps are filled by the.need for taking medicine, for reading parts o£,.thp. paper.. A letter, a package, becomes an event, with appropriate, conversation. The new book may be read, but need not. There are kind inquiries.'These* draw out into an infinite leisur.e,.until one wonders why bod has seemed so .strange and' dull. Dull! Bed alters every .value. A bird at the.window becomes an. event; so does a new vase of flowers. A bed jacket becomes a matter of Paris fashions. One's hands grow: clean .for once and cause reflection. The- pleasant land of counterpane triumphs, iindD bed-becomes aplane that is oven more normal than any other.