Have you ever wandered around your house in the still hours before dawn, wondering where that other dryer ball went?

OK. Maybe that’s just me.

It’s the sort of thing that occurs to me when the cat has woken me with his early morning summonses in desperate need of a few minutes of cosseting and maybe a nip of a tuna treat. (OK, so he’s spoiled. Like the rest of them.) He goes back to sleep. His sister rolls and rumbles in my lap for her turn at petting and then makes her way to the center of a king-size dog bed to curl up, still purring. The dogs go out for a quick trip around the front yard and come back in to crash. Leaving me to lie awake and wonder about dryer balls.

Curiosity killed the cat owner. I get back up and wander about in the semi-dark looking for the missing one, which I find buried in a pile of clean socks waiting to be folded. Mystery solved. Disaster averted. Or at least, yet another trip to replace something I know I have and simply cannot find (add massive eye-roll here).

So, here I am, clicking away in the wee hours, finally getting back to doing what I would have done a day or two ago, but I took a little detour. Yes, the blog is posting late this week – so grateful for your patience, dear readers. It was a busy week at work, my schedule was jammed, and there were clattering events on the news. The critters (all four!) were clamoring for more of me. On top of the fur family’s desires, the clamor of news and digital distraction and social media was getting to be too much. I decided to have a little retreat with the kids. Me and the fur-fam, no clamor allowed.

First thing I did was pull back on social media. Whew. That newsfeed is a FIREHOSE. There are times when I love that – the crazy, wild, never-know-what’s-coming-next feeling. Other times … not so much. I cut my viewing to checking notifications a few times in the day and let the rush go on without me. It feels weird at first – we’re so used to the rush. But after half a day, it’s like paddling a canoe out of rapids into still, quiet water, a gliding sense of peace and relief. I also deleted a lot of incoming email without reading much. When just reading the headlines makes my head pop, I really don’t need to read the rest. I believe in being informed, but not in being constantly inflamed. The news will still be there in a day or two, or whenever I’m ready to deal with it.

Remember the CD series a few years back (OK – 20, but whose counting) called “Unplugged”? A number of terrific artists that usually play electric instruments made albums without them, letting the music get all mellow and warm. It was gorgeous. (Eric Clapton on acoustic guitar – sweet shudders!) Letting go of the digital fray meant being more present in the real, warm, real world. I could appreciate the right here, right now more – the fun of watching my two dogs play, the sweet curl of a cat possessing my lap, a cup of coffee and a good book. Ahh.  As you can tell, the kids got more sleep than I did, but we all got lots of cuddles, some lovely quiet time, a couple good long walks, and plenty of hyggeligt moments. I chose a few actions I could take that let me contribute to creating a better place without getting overwhelmed.

Have a little breather, now and again, my friends. It is good to meet the new day in peace.

For those of you who said “Dryer what!?” Dryer balls are little spiky rubbery balls you toss in the dryer instead of using fabric softener. They knock the static, lint , and wrinkles out of the clothes and don’t leave any chemicals behind. Wonderful little things.

Stay tuned for more on the Here’s a Quarter blog next week! As always, your thoughts and comments are always welcome – they are moderated (I know – adulting again), so they may take a little while to appear, but I read them all and appreciate that you were here. Thank you!