Time in a Bottle

My great friend, Jill, is a notoriously tough person to whom to give a gift.  So, this year, in honor of her induction into the Double-Nickel Club on this very day, I opted to go big:   I got her a parade.  

Actually, that is a lie.   As is the case with practically everyone unfortunate enough to know me, I got her nothing.  SURPRISE! Again, no, it is not.  

What is true, however, is that the 49th Annual Belmar/Lake Como St. Patrick's Day Parade steps off this afternoon at 12:30 on Main Street in Lake Como, returning after a COVID-19-forced hiatus in 2021.  The parade route is north on Main Street from Lake Como, into and through Belmar.  Margaret and I have gone to it a couple of times.  It is really a terrific event.  If you have the opportunity to get to the greater Belmar/Lake Como Metroplex later on this morning (giving yourself time to find a parking space and, then more importantly, a spot along the curb line from which to watch the parade pass by (literally, not figuratively), then I highly recommend it.  

A more important truth is that (courtesy of Wilma's recommendation) I finally have secured the weapon I have long needed in my battle against chronic, recurrent insomnia

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  Seeing as I was up to popping three Melatonin a night shortly before going nighty-night with little to no reward, I was desperate.  Apparently, in the 21st Century, desperate times also call for a little product known as Delta-8 THC Gummies.  

My magic elixir arrived in Friday's mail.  I ate one on Friday night and, again, last night about an hour before bed time.  I slept straight through the night (except for, of course, my regular mid-sleep cycle jaunt(s) to the bathroom - it is a sleep aid not a magic trick) each night and woke up, yesterday and this morning, rested and ready to go.  

Thank you Wilma.  Thank you, too, Weed.com, which might represent the single best thing the interweb has ever had to offer since Al Gore invented it.  Other than videos of puppies and dogs doing funny things, of course.  

The night I placed my first order created my very own Weed.com account, I smiled at the thought of how jealous college-aged me would have been of middle-aged me, and also a little proud perhaps, for having such a thing.  Of course, had such a site existed three-plus decades as I matriculated my way through the University of Colorado, Boulder, I would - right now - be enjoying my seventy-second consecutive semester as a college sophomore.  

(c) Good Housekeeping

-AK