Hang Time

Today is absolutely beautiful! Today is the kind of day one could justify calling in sick for if nothing else, but to find a nice quiet place and spend the afternoon catching the sun’s rays on your face. We called it “Sun Beasting” in an old office I used to work force. There were a lot of us on staff with a history of spinal cord injuries and used wheelchairs for mobility. After the first of the year , usually in mid- to late February the first of the earlies ‘spring” days would make their appearance. Blue skied days, with no wind and plenty of direct sunshine.

Lunch hour and the hours just after lunch house was the best time sun beast. We had a place in the back of our building which was Southern exposed and entirely blocked from any wind. There was a long building painted white which abutted our back parking lot which made a perfect place to sit and catch the rays and heat refracted off this building. Many of us would sit and talk back there- the boss who used a power wheelchair for mobility always made sure she had some thing to write a grant or letter. She was always on the clock. Depending on the bosses mood we spoke of consumers we shared or projects we had in the “fire” or maybe challenges any of us had who were trying to live independently. This time of the year the conversation was usually about taxes and how badly were we might be bitten by the Federal Tax Bug. Most everyone got money back but not me I never did or have. I cannot quite figure that out—I would like a refund but not this year.

I have not sunbeasted since I left the Independent Living Center; however, I am fortunate to have a South West window which fills with huge suns rays in the later afternoons of mid to late February and beyond. So bright the dun almost blanks out my computer screen and makes me very sleepy. Remember, many of the staff are involved with the legislative process this time of the year and are often gone in the late afternoon hours leaving me nearly alone with the fresh pre-spring sunrays pouring in my window. I never sleep—that would not be right but on occasion I might nod. I call this time of the year “Hang Time”.