Out of the Cold

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Speaker 1 The holidays can be a lot, can't they?

Speaker 1 For business owners especially, this time of year can go from cozy to chaotic fast.

Speaker 1 I remember my first holiday rush. I was so worried something would break.
The website, the checkout, my own brain.

Speaker 1 But that's when I learned what a difference the right tools can make. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world, about 10% of all e-commerce in the U.S.

Speaker 1 Whether you're just opening your virtual doors or you're running a full-blown store, Shopify helps you take the holidays from chaos to cha-ching.

Speaker 1 There are thousands of templates and tools to make your site beautiful and functional.

Speaker 1 AI tools to help write product descriptions and headlines, and built-in marketing support so your voice doesn't get lost in the noise.

Speaker 1 Plus, you can relax knowing Shopify's award-winning customer service is there 24/7 if anything comes up. So make this Black Friday one to remember.

Speaker 1 Sign up for your free trial today at Shopify.com/slash nothing much.

Speaker 1 That's shopify.com slash nothing much.

Speaker 1 welcome to bedtime stories for everyone

Speaker 1 in which

Speaker 1 nothing much happens

Speaker 1 you feel good and then you fall asleep

Speaker 1 I'm Catherine Nikolai

Speaker 1 I read and write all the stories you hear and nothing much happens

Speaker 1 audio engineering is by Bob Wittersheim.

Speaker 1 We give to a different charity each week. And this week, we're giving to Howell Nature Center.
They pride themselves in being a second home to any person

Speaker 1 who wants to heal, grow,

Speaker 1 and be wild in nature.

Speaker 1 You can learn more at the link in our show notes.

Speaker 1 Before we dig in tonight, I just want to share something with you. I hear from so many folks who are feeling anxious,

Speaker 1 and I want to give you all the tools I can to help.

Speaker 1 We have this show,

Speaker 1 as well as our daytime version.

Speaker 1 We have our guided meditation show. All of those are linked in our notes.

Speaker 1 And now we've added one more soothing aid to our offerings.

Speaker 1 It's a weighted pillow designed to rest on your chest, your lap, or be hugged close to provide a comforting, grounded sensation to help you relax.

Speaker 1 It uses deep pressure stimulation that encourages your body to release natural, calming hormones while lowering stress hormones. I use one when I record.

Speaker 1 I have it right now on my lap.

Speaker 1 So if you need extra help these days, I recommend it. You can order it now through the link in our notes.

Speaker 1 Now.

Speaker 1 I have a story to tell you.

Speaker 1 And just by listening, will shift your brain from default mode where it can wander endlessly to task positive mode

Speaker 1 where sleep is natural and accessible and all you have to do is listen

Speaker 1 I'll tell the story twice

Speaker 1 and I'll go a little slower the second time through.

Speaker 1 If you wake later in the night, often just

Speaker 1 thinking back

Speaker 1 through any part of the story that you can remember,

Speaker 1 or replaying a sweet memory, will put you right back to sleep.

Speaker 1 But if it doesn't, don't hesitate to turn an episode back on.

Speaker 1 This is a kind of brain training, and it takes some time to build up the response you want.

Speaker 1 Our story tonight is called Out of the Cold.

Speaker 1 And it's a story about a windy day

Speaker 1 and a place to warm up.

Speaker 1 It's also about pine boughs,

Speaker 1 an open wrought iron gate,

Speaker 1 smoke rising from a chimney in the distance, a black cat,

Speaker 1 cookies and tea,

Speaker 1 and the good feeling of stepping into the warmth with a friend.

Speaker 1 So, switch off your light,

Speaker 1 slip down under your blankets,

Speaker 1 and get as comfortable as you can.

Speaker 1 Take a deep breath in through your nose

Speaker 1 and sigh from your mouth.

Speaker 1 Again, breathe in

Speaker 1 and out.

Speaker 1 Good.

Speaker 1 Out of the cold.

Speaker 1 I was bundled up,

Speaker 1 but the wind was blowing this morning.

Speaker 1 I'd heard it blow all night as I was tucked into my bed,

Speaker 1 my thick old quilt pressing me down into my mattress.

Speaker 1 You know that feeling

Speaker 1 when you are

Speaker 1 very glad and grateful

Speaker 1 to be safe and warm inside your house

Speaker 1 when your bed feels like a sanctuary

Speaker 1 and you can sense sleep about to pull you down

Speaker 1 and you rub your feet together like a dog wagging his tail

Speaker 1 and the sound of the wind had only helped

Speaker 1 Each time I'd come close to waking,

Speaker 1 the whistle of it through the eaves of my old farmhouse

Speaker 1 had sent me right back down

Speaker 1 into my dreams.

Speaker 1 But today,

Speaker 1 even though I was properly bundled up against it,

Speaker 1 it was making my morning walk a bit colder than I'd expected.

Speaker 1 At least the sun was out,

Speaker 1 bright and golden,

Speaker 1 reflecting on the thick frost in the fields.

Speaker 1 I was tromping down the dirt road,

Speaker 1 breathing the cold morning air

Speaker 1 through a layer of crocheted cotton,

Speaker 1 my warmest winter scarf,

Speaker 1 and I could smell

Speaker 1 only the absence of scent,

Speaker 1 just as snow muffles sound,

Speaker 1 the cold

Speaker 1 muffles aroma.

Speaker 1 The landscape rolled out in front of me,

Speaker 1 mown down fields,

Speaker 1 dotted with barns and farmhouses.

Speaker 1 A frozen over pond where two mallards waddled on the surface.

Speaker 1 Even when it is cold,

Speaker 1 something about a morning walk

Speaker 1 always sweetens my day.

Speaker 1 It's like setting a table

Speaker 1 with your favorite dish and mug.

Speaker 1 Every bite tastes a bit better.

Speaker 1 So I kept going

Speaker 1 past the crossroads,

Speaker 1 past the shuttered farm stand, where I bought tomatoes and sunflowers in the summer.

Speaker 1 and past the giant willow,

Speaker 1 which caused the whole road to jog

Speaker 1 a bit to the right,

Speaker 1 then correct to the left.

Speaker 1 I appreciated

Speaker 1 that little divergence from the straight and narrow.

Speaker 1 Glad that rather than cutting a tree down,

Speaker 1 someone a hundred years ago

Speaker 1 had just adjusted their path.

Speaker 1 I came to a long drive

Speaker 1 at the edge of the road

Speaker 1 and noticed that the evergreen garlands were up at the entrance to the inn.

Speaker 1 The drive was framed by a tall iron gate,

Speaker 1 which always sat open

Speaker 1 and on either side were regal stone plinths topped with giant urns.

Speaker 1 In the summer, they overflowed with vines and flowers,

Speaker 1 but now were stuffed with pine boughs and holly branches and strung with lights.

Speaker 1 The innkeeper had been busy.

Speaker 1 I crossed the road,

Speaker 1 eager to see

Speaker 1 how far the decorations extended,

Speaker 1 and saw the whole drive was lined with garlands and velvety red bows.

Speaker 1 In the bright daylight,

Speaker 1 I couldn't see any lights on the inn itself.

Speaker 1 But I knew they were there

Speaker 1 and looked forward to to driving past it all season,

Speaker 1 seeing the roof line and windows framed with light.

Speaker 1 I squinted to look closer

Speaker 1 and saw a bit of smoke rising out of the chimney

Speaker 1 and decided to drop in and see how she, the innkeeper, was doing.

Speaker 1 The inn closed for the season each autumn.

Speaker 1 And though there had been a big Halloween party,

Speaker 1 it had otherwise been very quiet over here.

Speaker 1 They would open again

Speaker 1 at the end of the year for the holidays,

Speaker 1 be booked with guests over Christmas and New Year's,

Speaker 1 and then spend another couple of months empty and hushed.

Speaker 1 As a neighbor, I'd known her and her staff for years

Speaker 1 and knew that it worked well for all of them.

Speaker 1 This rhythm of on again, off again.

Speaker 1 I hoped a visit would be welcome and not an interruption of her solitude.

Speaker 1 The inn sat on a large plot of land,

Speaker 1 and the drive curved first one way

Speaker 1 and then the other,

Speaker 1 showing off the gardens

Speaker 1 and tall trees.

Speaker 1 I noticed bird feeders hung in branches

Speaker 1 and guessed this was one of the ways she kept busy over the winter.

Speaker 1 Hospitality must be built into her bones.

Speaker 1 When her guests were gone,

Speaker 1 she took care of the birds.

Speaker 1 As I got closer,

Speaker 1 I started to glimpse the lake out past the house,

Speaker 1 while the pond I'd spotted earlier was frozen over.

Speaker 1 The lake was too big for that

Speaker 1 this early in the season.

Speaker 1 There was a rim of white at its edge.

Speaker 1 But the water was still moving,

Speaker 1 whipped up a bit by the wind,

Speaker 1 and sparkling like diamonds in the sun.

Speaker 1 The row of trees along one side of the house looked strange without their hammocks.

Speaker 1 Though I'd been there myself to help her put them away in September,

Speaker 1 Chef's garden was tilled over

Speaker 1 only a few

Speaker 1 of the last hardy stems of kale and cabbage

Speaker 1 still glinting with frost

Speaker 1 I could hear music playing as I crossed the circle drive

Speaker 1 where guests unloaded their cars

Speaker 1 and stepped to the front door

Speaker 1 That usually meant she was cleaning

Speaker 1 And when I pressed the doorbell

Speaker 1 and heard the chimes ringing through the giant old place

Speaker 1 I wasn't surprised to see her poke her head out into the hall

Speaker 1 a scarf tied over her hair

Speaker 1 and a feather duster in her hand

Speaker 1 Sycamore

Speaker 1 her black cat,

Speaker 1 shot down the long hall and bounced around the foyer like a pinball.

Speaker 1 He was obviously excited to see a guest.

Speaker 1 I pulled my scarf down

Speaker 1 and waved a mittened hand, and she smiled as she recognized me

Speaker 1 and rushed forward to open the door.

Speaker 1 Come in out of the cold, she urged

Speaker 1 and ushered me through the entryway.

Speaker 1 I hope you don't mind an impromptu visit, I said,

Speaker 1 as I unwound my scarf and pulled off my hat.

Speaker 1 The inn was cozy and warm, and I could smell wood polish

Speaker 1 and breakfast tea and lemon.

Speaker 1 No, I'm so glad you stopped by.

Speaker 1 I've got the kettle on

Speaker 1 and Sy wants a break anyway, she laughed.

Speaker 1 I followed her down the hall to the library,

Speaker 1 where a fire was going in the grate,

Speaker 1 and the just-finished record was spinning on the turntable.

Speaker 1 I stepped over to the window seat as she fixed a cup of tea for me

Speaker 1 and looked out past the yard and down to the lake.

Speaker 1 Sycamore jumped up onto the seat

Speaker 1 and rubbed his head against my hand.

Speaker 1 I scratched between his ears and down his back.

Speaker 1 It would be another long, windy walk back home.

Speaker 1 But I was so glad to stop in and see these friends,

Speaker 1 to be asked in out of the cold,

Speaker 1 to sit by the fire with tea and windmill cookies

Speaker 1 and stories to catch up on

Speaker 1 out

Speaker 1 of the cold

Speaker 1 I was bundled up

Speaker 1 but the wind was blowing this morning

Speaker 1 I'd heard it blow all night

Speaker 1 as I was tucked into my bed,

Speaker 1 my thick old quilt

Speaker 1 pressing me down

Speaker 1 into my mattress.

Speaker 1 You know that feeling

Speaker 1 when you are very glad

Speaker 1 and grateful

Speaker 1 to be safe and warm inside your house

Speaker 1 when your bed feels like a sanctuary

Speaker 1 and you can sense sleep

Speaker 1 about to pull you down

Speaker 1 and you rub your feet together

Speaker 1 like a dog wagging his tail

Speaker 1 and the sound of the wind had only helped

Speaker 1 each time I'd come close to waking

Speaker 1 The whistle of it through the eaves of my old farmhouse

Speaker 1 Had sent me right back down

Speaker 1 into my dreams

Speaker 1 But today

Speaker 1 Even though I was properly bundled up against it

Speaker 1 it was making my morning walk a bit colder than I'd expected.

Speaker 1 At least the sun was out,

Speaker 1 bright

Speaker 1 and golden,

Speaker 1 reflecting on the thick frost in the fields.

Speaker 1 I was tromping down the dirt road,

Speaker 1 breathing the cold morning air

Speaker 1 through a layer of crocheted cotton,

Speaker 1 my warmest winter scarf,

Speaker 1 and I could smell

Speaker 1 only the absence of scent,

Speaker 1 just as snow muffles sound,

Speaker 1 the cold muffles aroma

Speaker 1 the landscape rolled in front of me

Speaker 1 moan down fields

Speaker 1 dotted with barns and farmhouses

Speaker 1 a frozen over pond

Speaker 1 where two mallards waddled on the surface.

Speaker 1 But even when it's cold

Speaker 1 something

Speaker 1 about a morning walk

Speaker 1 always

Speaker 1 sweetens my day.

Speaker 1 It's like setting a table with your favorite dish and mug.

Speaker 1 Every bite tastes a bit better.

Speaker 1 So

Speaker 1 I kept going

Speaker 1 past the crossroads,

Speaker 1 past the shuttered farm stand,

Speaker 1 where I bought tomatoes and sunflowers in the summer.

Speaker 1 And past the giant willow,

Speaker 1 which caused the whole road

Speaker 1 to jog

Speaker 1 a bit to the right

Speaker 1 and then correct to the left.

Speaker 1 I appreciated that little divergence from the straight and narrow.

Speaker 1 Glad that rather than cutting down a tree,

Speaker 1 someone a hundred years ago

Speaker 1 had just adjusted their path.

Speaker 1 I came to a long drive at the edge of the road

Speaker 1 and noticed that the evergreen garlands were up

Speaker 1 at the entrance to the inn.

Speaker 1 The drive was framed by a tall iron gate,

Speaker 1 which always sat open,

Speaker 1 and on either side

Speaker 1 were regal stone plinths

Speaker 1 topped with giant urns.

Speaker 1 In the summer

Speaker 1 they overflowed with vines

Speaker 1 and flowers

Speaker 1 but now

Speaker 1 were stuffed with pine boughs and holly branches

Speaker 1 and strung with lights.

Speaker 1 The innkeeper had been busy.

Speaker 1 I crossed the road,

Speaker 1 eager to see how far the decorations extended,

Speaker 1 and saw the whole drive was lined with garlands

Speaker 1 and velvety red bows.

Speaker 1 In the bright daylight, I couldn't see any lights on the inn itself.

Speaker 1 But I knew they were there,

Speaker 1 and looked forward

Speaker 1 to driving past it all season,

Speaker 1 seeing the roof line and the windows

Speaker 1 framed with light.

Speaker 1 I squinted to look closer

Speaker 1 and saw a bit of smoke rising out of the chimney

Speaker 1 and decided to drop in

Speaker 1 and see how she,

Speaker 1 the innkeeper, was doing.

Speaker 1 The inn closed for the season each autumn.

Speaker 1 And though there had been

Speaker 1 a big Halloween party,

Speaker 1 it had otherwise been very quiet over here.

Speaker 1 They would open again at the end of the year for the holidays,

Speaker 1 be booked with guests over Christmas and New Year's,

Speaker 1 and then spend another couple of months empty and hushed.

Speaker 1 As a neighbor,

Speaker 1 I'd known her and the staff for years

Speaker 1 and knew that it worked well for all of them.

Speaker 1 This rhythm of

Speaker 1 on again,

Speaker 1 off again.

Speaker 1 I hoped a visit would be welcome

Speaker 1 and not an interruption of her solitude.

Speaker 1 The inn sat

Speaker 1 on a large plot of land,

Speaker 1 and the drive curved

Speaker 1 first one way

Speaker 1 and then the other,

Speaker 1 showing off the gardens and tall trees.

Speaker 1 I noticed bird feeders hung in branches

Speaker 1 and guessed

Speaker 1 this was one of the ways she kept busy over the winter.

Speaker 1 Hospitality must be built into her bones.

Speaker 1 When her guests were gone,

Speaker 1 she took care of the birds.

Speaker 1 As I got closer,

Speaker 1 I started to glimpse the lake

Speaker 1 out past the house.

Speaker 1 While the pond I'd spotted earlier had been frozen over.

Speaker 1 The lake was too big for that

Speaker 1 this early in the season.

Speaker 1 There was a rim of white at its edge, though

Speaker 1 the water was still moving,

Speaker 1 whipped up a bit by the wind

Speaker 1 and sparkling like diamonds in the sun.

Speaker 1 The row of trees along one side of the house looked strange without their hammocks,

Speaker 1 though I'd been here myself

Speaker 1 to help her put them away in September.

Speaker 1 Chef's garden was tilled over

Speaker 1 only a few hardy stems of kale and cabbage,

Speaker 1 still glinting with frost.

Speaker 1 I could hear music playing

Speaker 1 as I crossed the circle drive

Speaker 1 where guests unloaded their cars

Speaker 1 and stepped to the front door.

Speaker 1 Music usually meant she was cleaning

Speaker 1 and when I pressed the doorbell

Speaker 1 and heard the chimes ringing through

Speaker 1 the giant old place,

Speaker 1 I wasn't surprised to see her poke her head out into the hall,

Speaker 1 a scarf over her hair,

Speaker 1 and a feather duster

Speaker 1 in her hand.

Speaker 1 Sycamore,

Speaker 1 her black cat,

Speaker 1 shot down the hall

Speaker 1 and bounced around the foyer

Speaker 1 like a pinball.

Speaker 1 He was obviously excited

Speaker 1 to see a guest.

Speaker 1 I pulled my scarf down

Speaker 1 and waved a mittened hand.

Speaker 1 And she smiled as she recognized me

Speaker 1 and rushed forward to open the door.

Speaker 1 Come in, out of the cold, she urged

Speaker 1 and ushered me through the entryway.

Speaker 1 I hope you don't mind an impromptu visit, I said

Speaker 1 as I unwound my scarf and pulled off my hat,

Speaker 1 the inn was cozy and warm,

Speaker 1 and I could smell

Speaker 1 wood polish

Speaker 1 and breakfast tea and lemon.

Speaker 1 No, I'm so glad you stopped by.

Speaker 1 I've got the kettle on,

Speaker 1 and Sy wants a break anyway.

Speaker 1 I followed her down the hall

Speaker 1 to the library

Speaker 1 where a fire was going in the grate

Speaker 1 and a just-finished record

Speaker 1 was spinning on the turntable.

Speaker 1 I stepped over to the window seat

Speaker 1 as she fixed a cup of tea for me

Speaker 1 and looked out

Speaker 1 past the yard

Speaker 1 and down toward the lake.

Speaker 1 Sycamore jumped up

Speaker 1 onto the seat

Speaker 1 and rubbed his head against my hand.

Speaker 1 I scratched between his ears and down his back.

Speaker 1 It would be

Speaker 1 another long,

Speaker 1 windy walk back home.

Speaker 1 But I was so glad

Speaker 1 to stop in and see these friends

Speaker 1 to be asked in

Speaker 1 out of the cold,

Speaker 1 to sit by the fire

Speaker 1 with tea and windmill cookies

Speaker 1 and stories to catch up on

Speaker 1 sweet dreams.