Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep - Cold Snap and Crosswords

Episode Date: January 24, 2022

Our story tonight is called Cold Snap and Crosswords and it’s a story about a midwinter morning when you’ve got no plans to leave the house. It’s also about feeling snug and tucked well away from the winter wind, books of puzzles, and the view from the top floor. Buy the bookGet beautiful NMH merchGet autographed copiesGet our ad-free and bonus episodesPurchase Our Book: https://bit.ly/Nothing-Much-HappensSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Bedtime Stories for Grownups, in which nothing much happens. You feel good, and then you fall asleep. I'm Katherine Nicolai. I read and write all the stories you hear on Nothing Much Happens, with audio engineering by Bob Wittersheim. The thing listeners ask me for, more than anything else, is simply more. More stories, and more ways to enjoy them. So in my book, an audiobook, there are 16 stories that you've never heard on the podcast. And on our ad-free and bonus feed, there is a special new story every month.

You can get the book wherever you like to buy them, and become a Premium Plus member at nothingmuchappens.com. Now, I'm about to tell you a bedtime story. The story is a soft place to rest your mind, a simple and pleasant way to occupy it so that it doesn't wander away and keep you up. All you need to do is listen in a relaxed way. Just follow along with the sound of my voice and the simple details of the story. And soon, very soon, you'll be deeply asleep. I'll tell the story twice, and I'll go a little slower the second time through.

If you wake in the middle of the night, you could turn the story right back on, or just think your way back through any part of the story that you can remember. We're creating a habit pattern for your brain, and it's a bit like walking through a tall field. Each night you'll wear down the overgrowth more and more, and soon you'll have an easy-to-follow path to sleep. Now it's time.

Turn off your light. Snuggle your body down into your sheets and get as comfortable as you can. Whatever your day was is what your day was. Now we are here, safe and ready for sleep. If you tend to clench your jaw, place the tip of your tongue at the place where your upper teeth meet the gums on the inside. This will help to keep your jaw relaxed. Let's take a deep breath in

through the nose and let it out through your mouth. Nice. Let's do that again. Breathe in and out. Good. Our story tonight is called Cold Snap and Crosswords. And it's a story about a midwinter morning when you've got no plans to leave the house. It's also about feeling snug and tucked away from the winter wind, books of puzzles, and crosswords. I'd always loved small spaces. Even as a child, I found myself crawling into cabinets and pulling pillows into the space under desks. I'd happily curl up with a book or a toy and spend an hour or two

snug in my makeshift nest. So when I found this apartment on the top floor of an old brick building on the edge of downtown. It immediately felt like home. It was a studio, and I liked doing all my living in one space. It had coved ceilings and tall windows that looked all the way into the park. It had a small kitchen with a built-in banquette, space for my big bed,

a bathroom tiled in black and white, and very best of all, a fireplace. It had been a wood-burning hearth when the building was first built, in Art Deco style a hundred years before, but had been converted to gas before I'd moved in. I loved the smell of a wood fire, but I had to admit that being able to turn it on by remote from the comfort of my still warm bed was a luxury I enjoyed.

And that's what I did today. We'd had a cold snap that had started the evening before. It had already been cold, but as the sun went down, the temperature dropped steeply, and when I'd come home with a couple bags of groceries last night around seven, the chill had followed me right into the elevator, and I'd had to drink a whole pot of tea to warm up. And it had gotten even colder overnight. I'd slept well, though, with my apartment just a little cooler than usual.

When I woke a little past sunrise, I'd plumped the pillows and sat up in bed, pulling the comforter closer around me and clicked on the fireplace. A line of blue flame skirted along the bottom of the ceramic logs, then sprung up into orange and red fire, and I let out a sigh. I stayed in bed for a while, letting the room warm up and sipping from the cup of water on my nightstand.

There were plenty of days when I had to get right up and out, when lounging in bed wasn't an option. But today was a lazy Sunday. I didn't have any plans. And with the icy wind blowing against my windows, I decided I wouldn't make any.

Eventually the craving for coffee nudged me out of bed and I pulled back the blankets and stepped down into my slippers. I filled my kettle at the sink and set it on the stove and listened to the click, click, click of the gas lighter turning on. I took my French press from the drying rack and put the pieces of it together. I ground coffee beans and dumped them into the pot,

using a small paintbrush to get all of them from the crevices of the grinder. While I waited for the water to boil, I strolled over to the windows and looked down into the street. It certainly looked cold. I saw a few brave souls in the coffee shop and wondered if the usual meeting of grandfathers at the big table along the back wall would still happen. The diner was open down the street,

and the bakery kitty corner to it had its lights on. The kettle whistled behind me, and I left the window and poured the water into my press, letting the steam curl around my neck as it filled. I set the plunger on top and took my favorite mug from the cupboard. While it brewed, I fished through my bag hanging from the coat rack by the door. I'd gotten a gift from my brother over the holidays,

a box that had showed up on my doorstep, wrapped in brown paper. Inside were a couple books of crosswords and Sudoku puzzles. I hadn't done any in years, but over the last few weeks, I'd become a regular puzzler. I stuck to the easy and medium puzzles. I didn't have anything to prove. And I just liked filling them in, though I still got stuck from time to time. I'd even worn through the eraser on my pencil

and had to stop at the stationery shop to buy a few of those pink eraser caps to extend its usefulness. I pressed the plunger down on my French press and poured a cup to the brim. I sat it on my nightstand and dropped my crossword book and pencil on the coverlet and crawled back into bed. I tucked the covers tight around me and rested back against the pillows. I would stay in bed as long as I wanted this morning,

in my snug apartment with the fire burning and my puzzles. I had one of those moments of pure glee, simple joy at how happy I was with my situation, and it made me laugh and wriggle against the sheets. I flipped open my book and propped it in my lap, took a long sip of coffee, and read the first clue. One across, voice above tenor. Four letters.

Well, that was alto. I'd noticed that there were a few handy clues that puzzle makers used over and over again. What was the best cookie for dunking? An Oreo. How did you join the poker game? Anti. What foil did fencers use?

Epi. And I'd learned a few things as I worked the puzzles. Who did Leander love? It was Hero. Who was the Roman goddess of the dawn? Aurora. Four across. Historical period.

Oh, this one came up a lot too. But it was usually three letters, and this was asking for five. Oh, epic. The wind blew in a strong gust, and I looked up to see snowflakes cascading past my window. Even better to be home and snug in bed and watch it come down. Five letters, and it started with an L. Well, this one was right up my alley.

I thought it must be something to do with laying down, and checked the cross clue on the third letter. An alignment of celestial bodies. I'd had this one before, and I'd had to look it up when I'd finally surrendered because it was a very tricky one, a word I'd never heard before, a syzygy. So that put a Z in the middle of took it very easy. Lazed? Yep, that sure fit.

The snow was falling even thicker outside, and I rested my pencil in the crease of my book and reached for my cup. It was nearly empty. I'd have another one for certain. Then, maybe some toast, or oatmeal, or both. The rest of the day would be more of the same. Puzzles, movies, a long bath in my tub, a pot of soup, playing records, enjoying the fire. Just like when I was a child, tucked inside my cupboard, I was content to be nestled inside, to enjoy my own company and only emerge when I was ready.

Cold snap and crosswords. I've always loved small spaces. Even as a child, I found myself crawling into cabinets and pulling pillows into the space under desks. I'd happily curl up with a book or a toy and spend an hour or two snug in my makeshift nest. So, when I found this apartment

on the top floor of an old brick building on the edge of downtown, it immediately felt like home. It was a studio, and I liked looked all the way into the park. It had a small kitchen with a built-in banquette, space for my big bed, a bathroom tiled in black and white, and very best of all,

a fireplace. It had been a wood-burning hearth when the building was first built, in Art Deco style a hundred years before, but had been converted to gas before I'd moved in. I loved the smell of a wood fire, but I had to admit that being able to turn it on by remote from the comfort of my still warm bed, was a luxury I enjoyed. And that's what I did today. We'd had a cold snap that had started the evening before. It had already been cold, but as the sun went down,

the temperature dropped steeply. And when I'd come home with a couple bags of groceries last night around seven, the chill had followed me right into the elevator, and I'd had to drink a whole pot of tea to warm up. And it had gotten even colder overnight. I'd slept well, though,

with my apartment just a little cooler than usual. When I woke, a little past sunrise, I'd plumped the pillows and sat up in bed, pulling the comforter closer around me, and clicked on the fireplace. A line of blue flame skirted along the bottom of the ceramic logs, then sprung up into the orange and red fire, and I let out a sigh. I stayed in bed for a while, letting the room warm up, and sipping from the cup of water on my nightstand. There were plenty of days when I had to get right up and out,

when lounging in bed wasn't an option. But today was a lazy Sunday. I didn't have any plans. And with the icy wind blowing against my windows, I decided I wouldn't make any. Eventually, the craving for coffee nudged me out of bed, and I pulled back the blankets and stepped it on the stove and listened to the click, click, click of the gas lighter turning on. I took my French press from the drying rack and put the pieces of it together. They ground coffee beans and dumped them into the pot using a small paintbrush

to get all of them from the crevices of the grinder. While I waited for the water to boil, I strolled over to the windows and looked down into the street. It certainly looked cold. I saw a few brave souls in the coffee shop and wondered if the usual meeting of grandfathers at the big table along the back wall would still happen. The diner was open down the street, and the bakery, giddy corner to it,

had its lights on. The kettle whistled behind me, and I left the window and poured the water into my press, letting the steam curl around my neck as it filled. I set the plunger on top and took my favorite mug from the cupboard. While it brewed, I fished through my bag, hanging from the coat rack by the door. I'd gotten a gift from my brother over the holidays. A box that had showed up on my doorstep, wrapped in brown paper.

Inside were a couple books of crosswords and Sudoku puzzles. I hadn't done any in years, but over the last few weeks, I'd become a regular puzzler. I stuck to the easy and medium puzzles. I didn't have anything to prove. And I just liked filling them in, though I still got stuck from time to time.

I'd even worn through the eraser on my pencil and had to stop at the stationery shop to buy a few of those pink eraser caps to extend its usefulness. I pressed the plunger down on my French press and poured a cup to the brim. I set it on my nightstand and dropped my crossword book and pencil on the coverlet and crawled back into bed. I tucked the covers tight around me and rested back against the pillows. I would stay in bed as long as I wanted this morning. In my snug apartment with the fire burning and my puzzles,

I had one of those moments of pure glee, simple joy at how happy I was with my situation, and it made me laugh and wriggle against the sheets. I flipped open my book and propped it in my lap, took a long sip of coffee, and read the first clue. One across, voice above tenor, four letters. That was Elto. I'd noticed that there were a few handy clues that puzzle makers used over and over again. What was the best cookie for dunking? An Oreo. How did you join the poker game?

Auntie. What foil did fencers use? Epi. And I'd learned a few things as I worked the puzzles. Who did Leander Who was the Roman goddess of the dawn? Aurora. Four across. Historical period. This one came up a lot too. But it was usually three letters. And this was asking for five. Oh.

Epic. The wind blew in a strong gust, and I looked up to see snowflakes cascading past my window. Even better to be home and snug in bed and watch it come down. I drank more coffee. Twenty-one down. Took it very easy. Five letters, and it started with an L. Well, this one was

right up my alley. I thought it must be something to do with laying down, and checked the cross clue on the third letter. An alignment of celestial bodies. I'd had this one before, and I'd had to look it up when I'd finally surrendered, because it was a very tricky one. A word I'd never heard before. Syzygy. So that put a Z in the middle of took it very easy. Lazed? Yep, that sure fit.

The snow was falling even thicker outside, and I rested my pencil in the crease of my book and reached for my cup. It was nearly empty. I'd have another one for certain. Then maybe some toast or oatmeal or both. The rest of the day would be more of the same. Puzzles, movies, a long bath in my tub, a pot of soup, playing records, enjoying the fire.

Just like when I was a child, tucked inside my cupboard, I was content to be nestled inside, to enjoy my own company, and only emerge when I was ready. Sweet dreams.