All Day, At Home (Encore)

Speaker 1 Get more, nothing much happens, with bonus episodes, extra long stories, and ad-free listening, all while supporting the show you love. Subscribe now.

Speaker 1 The holidays can be a lot, can't they? For business owners, especially, this time of year can go from cozy to chaotic fast. I remember my first holiday rush.

Speaker 1 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 nothingmuch.

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

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 to check out 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 2 Welcome to bedtime stories for everyone,

Speaker 2 in which

Speaker 2 nothing much happens.

Speaker 2 You feel good,

Speaker 2 and then

Speaker 1 you fall asleep.

Speaker 2 I'm Catherine Nikolai.

Speaker 2 I write and read

Speaker 1 all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens.

Speaker 2 Audio Engineering is by Bob Wittersheim.

Speaker 2 We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past. It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location.

Speaker 2 And since I'm a person and not a computer, I sometimes sound just slightly different.

Speaker 1 But the stories are always soothing and family friendly. And our wishes for you are always deep rest.

Speaker 2 and sweet dreams.

Speaker 2 So I'm about to tell you a bedtime story.

Speaker 2 And the story is like a soft landing spot for your mind.

Speaker 2 Rather than letting your brain race through the same thoughts you've been chasing all day,

Speaker 2 we are going to take a detour to a calm and cozy place.

Speaker 2 I'll tell the story twice. And I'll go a bit slower the second time through.

Speaker 2 If you wake again in the middle of the night,

Speaker 2 just walk yourself back through any of the details that you remember,

Speaker 2 and you'll drop right back off.

Speaker 2 We get better at what we do habitually.

Speaker 2 So be patient if you are new to this.

Speaker 2 Your sleep will improve with time and practice.

Speaker 2 Our story tonight is called All Day at Home.

Speaker 2 And it's a story about tucking yourself away from the world for a bit.

Speaker 2 It's also about watching winter from a window seat,

Speaker 2 red pepper flakes from the Italian coast,

Speaker 2 and the joy of minding one's own business.

Speaker 2 Now it's time to turn off off the light.

Speaker 2 Take one last sip of water and snuggle down into your favorite sleeping position.

Speaker 2 Get your pillow in the perfect spot

Speaker 2 and take a slow, deep breath in through your nose

Speaker 2 and out through your mouth.

Speaker 2 Nice.

Speaker 2 Do that one more time. Breathe in.

Speaker 2 And out.

Speaker 2 Good.

Speaker 2 All day.

Speaker 2 At home.

Speaker 2 It wasn't the weather that kept me home today.

Speaker 2 Though there were certainly still drifts of snow banked beside the front front door

Speaker 2 and a low gray sky that hinted at more to come.

Speaker 2 It was just that feeling when I woke,

Speaker 2 the feeling of being a bit overexposed to the world,

Speaker 2 of needing a day of quiet to myself,

Speaker 2 that helped me make up my mind.

Speaker 2 As I stirred my morning cup of coffee,

Speaker 2 I decided to stay home all day.

Speaker 2 To not go out unless it was to feed the birds or bring in firewood

Speaker 2 or to stand for a few moments in the cool air

Speaker 2 and breathe in the smell of

Speaker 2 well, winter air really smells like the absence of

Speaker 2 growing green things, of movement and doing.

Speaker 2 I guess winter air smells like quiet

Speaker 2 and stillness and repose.

Speaker 2 And that matched my needs perfectly today.

Speaker 2 Once I'd decided that today was a day for retreat,

Speaker 2 I'd taken my nearly full journal from my drawer,

Speaker 2 and my pen and a blanket,

Speaker 2 and went to the window seat that looked down into the small sloping valley at the edge of my backyard.

Speaker 2 In the summer, when I would sit here with the window open and let the birds song and the warm breeze in,

Speaker 2 I could imagine myself in a tree house,

Speaker 2 as all I could see were layers and layers of leaves.

Speaker 2 These were old trees,

Speaker 2 their toes dug deep into the rich low land,

Speaker 2 and their tops level with my window.

Speaker 2 Now I looked out at their bare branches,

Speaker 2 spread like reaching fingers across the sky.

Speaker 2 Nests from last summer were suddenly visible as dark clumps in the joints of those fingers.

Speaker 2 And I wondered where their former residents were at this moment,

Speaker 2 spreading their wings in bright sunlight,

Speaker 2 splashing in a friendly bird bath in a southerly backyard,

Speaker 2 or sleeping with a wing tucked over a head in a new nest somewhere warm.

Speaker 2 I spent a while sitting there,

Speaker 2 writing in my journal and looking out the window.

Speaker 2 I wrote about small things from the week,

Speaker 2 some that I wanted to remember,

Speaker 2 and some that I was ready to forget,

Speaker 2 And putting them down on the paper helped me to do that.

Speaker 2 It gave them a place to live that wasn't my head.

Speaker 2 Eventually, I set the book aside and pulled the blanket closer around me.

Speaker 2 Sometimes from this spot, I could see deer browsing through the trunks of trees,

Speaker 2 dipping their heads and nosing the snow aside from a mouthful of berries.

Speaker 2 But today,

Speaker 2 all was still.

Speaker 2 Everyone was staying home.

Speaker 2 Eventually, I slipped my feet back into my slippers and padded down into the kitchen.

Speaker 2 It was a bit past lunchtime,

Speaker 2 nearly two, in fact.

Speaker 2 And that made me think of the Italian way of eating a good-sized meal at this time of day.

Speaker 2 Something that would stay with you and nourish you for a good long while.

Speaker 2 I went to my cupboard and pulled down a jar of green lentils,

Speaker 2 a tiny can of tomato paste, and a box of pasta.

Speaker 2 Pasta con lenticchio today.

Speaker 2 A comforting pasta soup that was simple to make and delicious and satisfying.

Speaker 2 I tipped the lentils into a colander to rinse them.

Speaker 2 And as they ran over my fingers, I had a sudden memory of being very young,

Speaker 2 maybe four years old,

Speaker 2 in a classroom with a paint-smeared smock tied around me.

Speaker 2 There are bins of rice and grains,

Speaker 2 and we could dip our tiny hands into them and feel them tickle over our skin as all the kernels and seeds collided.

Speaker 2 I remembered that I had liked the way it felt,

Speaker 2 and had happily stayed there, just sliding my hands through the bins and quietly humming to myself.

Speaker 2 I supposed I hadn't changed that much in the years since.

Speaker 2 I still liked the pleasure of my own company

Speaker 2 and could easily entertain myself with simple, enjoyable things.

Speaker 2 I took a small pot from a shelf and set it on the stove.

Speaker 2 I measured in water and olive oil,

Speaker 2 a clove of garlic and a spoonful of the tomato paste.

Speaker 2 I added the rinsed lentils and turned on the hob.

Speaker 2 As the water warmed and came to a boil,

Speaker 2 the smell of the tomato and garlic filled my little kitchen.

Speaker 2 I turned it a bit lower and let it simmer away for a bit to let the lentils soften.

Speaker 2 I liked a small pasta noodle for this, like titali, which are short tubes and whose name meant thimble.

Speaker 2 I liked that.

Speaker 2 Thimble soup on a cold day.

Speaker 2 The broth had become a bit thicker as the lentils cooked and was was a rich reddish brown.

Speaker 2 I tipped in the pasta and gave it a stir.

Speaker 2 As it cooked, I set a place for myself at the table,

Speaker 2 a glass of mineral water,

Speaker 2 a napkin, salt and pepper,

Speaker 2 and a tiny dish of red pepper flakes.

Speaker 2 I was rationing them, and had been doling them out in tiny increments for a while now.

Speaker 2 You can buy them anywhere.

Speaker 2 But these particular pepperoncini

Speaker 2 had been bought in a little shop in Maiori

Speaker 2 by a friend and therefore had a special flavor

Speaker 2 that probably had more to do with sentiment than taste buds.

Speaker 2 I imagined her on her summer vacation

Speaker 2 with a floppy hat and giant sunglasses,

Speaker 2 stepping out of the bright Mediterranean sun into a shop with packets of spices strung on a hook by the door

Speaker 2 and remembering how much I like to add these to my soups and sauces,

Speaker 2 taking one down for me.

Speaker 2 When the pasta was cooked, I ladled it out into a bowl and carried it to my place.

Speaker 2 I pinched a few flakes of pepper in and stirred it through.

Speaker 2 The lentils had nearly dissolved, and the surface of the broth was speckled with olive oil.

Speaker 2 The clove of garlic had gone soft and sweet as it cooked, and I spooned it into my first bite bite with a few pasta thimbles

Speaker 2 and a good bit of the tomato stock

Speaker 2 this day

Speaker 2 this meal

Speaker 2 the time at the window with my book and pen

Speaker 2 they were restoring me

Speaker 2 it's easy these days to feel

Speaker 2 like you're under a microscope

Speaker 2 over-examined or scrutinized,

Speaker 2 and then to feel like you need a bit of time to be invisible to the rest of the world.

Speaker 2 And with a lot of care and tenderness,

Speaker 2 to simply mind your own business.

Speaker 2 That's what I would continue to do today.

Speaker 2 Tend to myself

Speaker 2 and let the world revolve without me for a bit.

Speaker 2 All day

Speaker 2 at home.

Speaker 2 It wasn't the weather that kept me home today.

Speaker 2 Though there were certainly still drifts of snow banked beside the front door,

Speaker 2 and a low gray sky that hinted at more to come.

Speaker 2 It was just that feeling when I woke,

Speaker 2 the feeling of being a bit overexposed to the world,

Speaker 2 of needing a day of quiet to myself

Speaker 2 that helped me to make up my mind.

Speaker 2 As I stirred my morning cup of coffee,

Speaker 2 I decided to stay home all day,

Speaker 2 to not go out,

Speaker 2 unless it was to feed the birds,

Speaker 2 or to bring in firewood,

Speaker 2 or to stand for a few moments in the cool air

Speaker 2 and breathe in the smell of

Speaker 2 well, winter air

Speaker 2 really smells like the absence of

Speaker 2 of growing green things,

Speaker 2 of movement and doing.

Speaker 2 I guess winter air

Speaker 2 smells like quiet and stillness and repose.

Speaker 2 And that matched my needs perfectly to day.

Speaker 2 Once I'd decided that to day was a day for retreat,

Speaker 2 I'd taken my nearly full journal from my drawer,

Speaker 2 and my pen and my blanket,

Speaker 2 and went to the window seat

Speaker 2 that looked down into the small sloping valley at the edge of my backyard.

Speaker 2 In the summer, when I would sit here with the window open

Speaker 2 and let the birds song and the warm breeze in,

Speaker 2 I could imagine myself in a tree house,

Speaker 2 as all I could see were layers and layers of leaves.

Speaker 2 These were old trees,

Speaker 2 their toes dug deep into the rich low land,

Speaker 2 and their tops level with my window.

Speaker 2 Now I looked out at their bare branches,

Speaker 2 spread like reaching fingers across the sky.

Speaker 2 Nests from last summer were suddenly visible

Speaker 2 as dark clumps in the joints of those fingers.

Speaker 2 And I wondered where their former residents were at this moment,

Speaker 2 spreading their wings in bright sunlight,

Speaker 2 splashing in a friendly bird bath in a southerly backyard,

Speaker 2 or sleeping with a wing tucked over a head

Speaker 2 in a new nest somewhere warm.

Speaker 2 I spent a while sitting there,

Speaker 2 writing in my journal,

Speaker 2 and looking out the window.

Speaker 2 I wrote about small things from the week,

Speaker 2 some that I wanted to remember,

Speaker 2 and some that I was ready to forget.

Speaker 2 And putting them down on the paper helped me to do that.

Speaker 2 It gave them a place to live that wasn't my head.

Speaker 2 Eventually,

Speaker 2 I set the book aside

Speaker 2 and I pulled the blanket closer around me.

Speaker 2 Sometimes from this spot

Speaker 2 I could see deer browsing through the trunks of the trees,

Speaker 2 dipping their heads and nosing the snow aside from a mouthful of berries.

Speaker 2 But to day

Speaker 2 all was still.

Speaker 2 Everyone was staying home.

Speaker 2 Eventually, I slipped my feet back into my slippers

Speaker 2 and padded down into the kitchen.

Speaker 2 It was a bit past lunchtime,

Speaker 2 nearly two, in fact.

Speaker 2 And that made me think of the Italian way of eating a good-sized meal at this time of the day.

Speaker 2 Something that would stay with you and nourish you for a good, long while.

Speaker 2 I went to my cupboard and pulled down a jar of green lentils,

Speaker 2 a tiny can of tomato paste,

Speaker 2 and a box of pasta.

Speaker 2 Pasta con lentikio today.

Speaker 2 A comforting pasta soup that was simple to make

Speaker 2 and delicious

Speaker 2 and satisfying.

Speaker 2 I tipped the lentils into a colander to rinse them,

Speaker 2 and as they ran ran over my fingers, I had a sudden memory of being very young,

Speaker 2 maybe four years old,

Speaker 2 in a classroom

Speaker 2 with a paint-smeared smock tied around me.

Speaker 2 There were bins of rice and grains.

Speaker 2 And we could dip our tiny hands into them

Speaker 2 and feel the tickle over our skin

Speaker 2 as all the kernels and seeds collided.

Speaker 2 I remembered

Speaker 2 that I had liked the way it felt

Speaker 2 and had happily stayed there,

Speaker 2 just sliding my hands through the bins, and quietly humming to myself.

Speaker 2 I supposed I hadn't changed that much in the years since.

Speaker 2 I still liked the pleasure of my own company

Speaker 2 and could easily entertain myself with simple, enjoyable things.

Speaker 2 I took a small pot from a shelf

Speaker 2 and set it on the stove.

Speaker 2 I measured in water and olive oil,

Speaker 2 a clove of garlic, and a spoonful of tomato paste.

Speaker 2 I added the rinsed lentils and turned on the hob.

Speaker 2 As the water warmed and came to a boil,

Speaker 2 the smell of the tomato and garlic filled my little kitchen.

Speaker 2 I turned it a bit lower

Speaker 2 and let it simmer away for a bit

Speaker 2 to let the lentils soften.

Speaker 2 I liked a small pasta noodle for this,

Speaker 2 like titali,

Speaker 2 which are short tubes

Speaker 2 and whose name meant thimble.

Speaker 2 I liked that.

Speaker 2 Thimble soup on a cold day.

Speaker 2 The broth had become a bit thicker as the lentils cooked and was a rich reddish brown

Speaker 2 I dipped in the pasta and gave it a stir

Speaker 2 As it cooked I set a place for myself at the table

Speaker 2 a glass of mineral water

Speaker 2 a napkin

Speaker 2 salt and pepper,

Speaker 2 and a tiny dish of red pepper flakes.

Speaker 2 I was rationing them and had been doling them out in tiny increments for a while now.

Speaker 2 You can buy them anywhere,

Speaker 2 but these particular pepperoncini

Speaker 2 had been bought in a little shop in Maori

Speaker 2 by a friend

Speaker 2 and therefore had a special flavor

Speaker 2 that probably had more to do with sentiment than taste buds.

Speaker 2 I imagined her on her summer vacation

Speaker 2 with a floppy hat and giant sunglasses

Speaker 2 stepping out of the bright Mediterranean sun

Speaker 2 into a shop with packets of spices strung on a hook by the door,

Speaker 2 remembering how much I like to add these to my soups and sauces,

Speaker 2 and taking one down for me.

Speaker 2 When the pasta was cooked,

Speaker 2 I ladled it out into a bowl

Speaker 2 and carried it to my place.

Speaker 2 I pinched a few flakes of pepper in

Speaker 2 and stirred it through.

Speaker 2 The lentils had nearly dissolved,

Speaker 2 and the surface of the broth was speckled with olive oil.

Speaker 2 The clove of garlic had gone soft and sweet as it cooked,

Speaker 2 and I spooned it into my first bite with a few pasta thimbles

Speaker 2 and a good bit of the tomato stock.

Speaker 2 The day,

Speaker 2 this meal,

Speaker 2 the time at the window with my book and pen,

Speaker 2 they were restoring me.

Speaker 2 It's easy these days

Speaker 2 to feel like you are under the microscope,

Speaker 2 over-examined, or scrutinized.

Speaker 2 And then to feel

Speaker 2 like you need a bit of time to be invisible to the rest of the world.

Speaker 2 And with a lot of care and tenderness,

Speaker 2 to simply mind your own business.

Speaker 2 That's what I would continue to do today:

Speaker 2 tend to myself

Speaker 2 and let the world revolve without me for a bit.

Speaker 2 Sweet dreams.