The Nap Window

I know it's been a while since last I posted, and there's a perfectly good reason for that. I was thinking, ruminating if you will. Because for a topic that concerns napping one must be oh so careful. Like a brain surgeon's hands must be steady as he slices into the grey matter of his unwitting, though awake, patient, or how an ice sculptor must chip every so lovingly away at her slab of ice as each tap brings her ice-dolphin closer to realisation. So too must I be controlled and well considered when discussing naps. Because after all, isn't napping, brain surgery and ice sculpting sort of exactly the same thing?

And it is with this logical, contemplative state of mind that I approach my next topic. The nap window.

What is "The Nap Window"? It seems to me that the best naps tend to occur between mid-afternoon and early evening. This is not to discount the glory of the "get up early, attend to errand then return to bed before noon", but I'm sure most people would agree such an activity is rare in the nap world.

In saying this we must then concede that as early evening stretches on towards late evening the sensible time for napping slips from our grasp. Sure, you could nap at 9:30pm if you wanted, but to what purpose? You'll just wake up at 11:30pm, scared, dehydrated and condemned to hour upon hour watching Heidi Klum smearing cream on old ladies or being continually unsure of what nationality Benny Hinn actually is.

Sure, my last post discussed the idea of 'napping on the wild side', and there is a time and place for such activities, when we're young and full of beautiful ideas but that's not for everyone. Indeed, it's not even for the majority of people.

And so we're forced then to conclude that, when applying a reasonable code of conduct to napping, that such a nap window does exist and it's better to go while the getting's good than be subjected to waking hours full of loneliness and late-night TV, a hell that a good night's sleep will ever safeguard us from.