There’s something just right about a rainy day at the library.  Getting out of bed is kind of a struggle (and that’s an understatement, since you could say that I have “kind of a struggle” getting out of bed every day), but once you’ve made it from the cocoon of pillows and sheets to the over-air-conditioned library, things get better.  The weather doesn’t technically make any difference in my work day.  It does, however, remind me of some great moments in college.

Rain has always struck me as the perfect excuse for a nap.  I wasn’t particularly fond of napping in my dorm room though.  It made me feel lazy to be sleeping like a rock at 2 p.m. when my roommate would return from whatever productive things she had been up to.  So rain or no rain, I spent many an hour in college trudging up the curved library stairway to the second or third floor, picking out a window alcove, and making the most of two soft, pushed-together chairs.  The chairs made an ideal napping spot complete with rails to keep you from falling onto the floor.  Those rails were more useful than you might think.  When the surface you’re sleeping on is about one square inch bigger than your body, it helps to be locked into place by something.

I did occasionally study for finals or do some research at the library, but it won my heart through naps, not high-tech equipment or well-chosen books.  If anything about college was perfect in its simplicity and lack of responsibility, it was nap time in the library.  I was never once late for class because of those naps, and I never felt like it was wasted time.  The library turned into some secret part of the universe where only good things could happen.  No one knew where you were, and you woke up looking out at treetops that made you think just for a second that you might be in a treehouse.

I might be at work, but I’m thinking about sleeping in a treehouse in San Antonio.  Like I said, there’s something just right about a rainy day at the library.