Rachel, KS

Simpler times. This is a fictional town emanating from The Andy Griffith Show, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, and a few other plots. It is described as the "homeplate of wheat and democracy." This is a small town from the middle of the twentieth century that embodies the ideals of Midwestern life, albeit shown in a comical fashion, not unlike River City, Iowa.

This is something my friends and I used to describe as our ideal fantasy town, where we all could live and perform an essential civic function, according to our talents and degrees. The idea of moving away after college and finding our lives separate from one another, while inevitable, is sort of depressing, and this way we could have some kind of hope in our minds.

I was reminded of this glorious Shangri-la whilst reunited recently with a group of friends for the wedding of one of our own. Someone older and wiser remarked during the proceedings that weddings and funerals tend to bring people together like no other time. They are such major life events, that people are moved to travel long distances and be together. It was such a joy to see Mark off into wedded bliss. It was made much sweeter to do so with many of our cadre enjoying each other's company like the days of yore.

This is why Rachel, Kansas is so popular with my day dreams. It boils down society into such a small, circumferenced idea, where we all can be together with an important role to play. Unfortunately, this only exists in plays and stories. Real life is uncompromising.

While we all sometimes live and work far from such good friends and family whom we bonded with during earlier times, it is nice to know that time doesn't diminish our care for one another. Conversations that were interrupted by months or years are picked up with the casual ease as if it was only a few hours absence. This is where humanity's seasoned veterans can say that life leads us all in unexpected directions, and that we should enjoy each stage in which we find ourselves. However, for my part, I won't forget Rachel, Kansas and the measure of its appeal.

Lose a day, gain a day.

I went to bed on Saturday night, and I woke up on Monday morning.

Somehow, after doing nothing out of the ordinary on Saturday, I slept for almost thirty-two hours straight. I did wake up once to go to the bathroom and I checked the time. It was four-thirty in the afternoon. I marveled at my sleeping endurance, especially at how tired I was still. I noticed the light coming in through the shades was faint, so I suspected that the rainy day was causing my extended drowsiness. I fell back into bed.

For a minute I worried about this prolonged rest: Didn't I need food? What if I woke up at two in the morning and couldn't get back to sleep? I quickly rationalized both, somehow, and fell back into a peaceful slumber.

Monday morning I awoke with a start after unconsciously hitting the snooze ten times. It was seven-thirty and I was late for work. I panicked and realized I would have to call in and tell them I'd be late. I checked my wondrous iPhone and looked up my calendar for work to see if I needed to get someone to cover a desk shift. Despite the adrenaline, my grogginess lingered. How could I have slept so much and was still that tired?

Well, the iPhone gave me the answer. It was actually Sunday morning. I had dreamt the entire sleeping through Sunday bit. Waking up at four-thirty in the afternoon was really the morning. No light came in through the windows because there wasn't any, save for that incessant street lamp. Phew! What a relief.

I now had a free day. It was like finding twenty bucks in your pants that you didn't know was there. Good thing I didn't have any plans, so I could spend it however I wanted. What do you do with a free day?

Well, for starters, I went back to sleep.