Sleeping like a lion and lioness may be in my genes

        While scrolling through Facebook the other day, I was surprised to learn that the female lioness sleeps approximately 15 -18 hours a day. And the male lion sleeps an average of 18 - 20 hours a day. They do that to renew their strength and conserve energy for intense, explosive burst of activity like hunting prey or defending their territory. The lion and lioness are some of the strongest and fastest animals in the jungle. 
         When it comes to sleep, I am glad to be in good company. 
          I, too, enjoy taking long naps. It’s one of my favorite pastimes.
          I only remember once sleeping more than 20 hours.
        It was a hot July day in my hometown of Tulsa. I had decided to mow the front yard. After making several laps, I got hot and overcome by the heat.
         I shut the push mower off and headed into the house to cool off.
          I found the comfort of the living room chair next to the window AC, which I called my prayer chair. I often sat in that chair and read my Bible and prayed.
          Anyway, I fell into a deep sleep and woke up around 10 p.m. at which time I moved to my bedroom and fell back asleep.
         I woke up at 4 a.m. and decided to get dressed and make a stop at the local Quick Trip convenience store a few blocks from my boyhood home.
          I drank a bottle of Pepsi and played a few rounds of pinball before returning home, where I quickly fell back asleep.
           I didn’t wake up until 2 p.m. that day.
           Either the heat got to me or I was really tired.
        Another time, in early December 1975, a rare winter tornado struck Tulsa. I was throwing newspapers with my mom in the morning, so most days after school I would come home, lay on the couch and take a nap. During this particular storm, the sirens went off. I was so asleep that I never heard them. I’m glad my angels were watching over me.
         Not too long ago, Debbie and I were talking to someone we met. We got on the subject of sleeping and this lady informed me that I should never take more than a 20 minute nap. Most of my naps are about two or so hours.
         My dad worked at a factory and everyday he would come into the house and lay down on the hard living room floor and take a 20-minute catnap.
          He’d grab a sofa pillow to lay under his head.
       Then he’d get up and out the door he’d go to mow yards in the our neighborhood. I guess the naps helped.
          That reminds me of the many mornings that I got up with my mom to throw the Tulsa World newspaper at 4:30 a.m. and later the Tulsa Tribune (evening) newspaper.
         It was a family enterprise with my brother pitching in and my dad helping on Sundays. Then we were off to church.
       Our church, First Baptist, in downtown Tulsa shared television rights with three other churches in the 1970s. The services were aired on a local television station. Each church shared the cameras and gear for three months at a time.
         I liked hanging around in the audio visual room with my friend Rob. I asked Mr. Ed, as we called him, if I could operate one of the cameras.
         Mr. Ed was the sound booth director.
     One Sunday morning during the sermon while I operated the television camera, I fell asleep. I had headphones on, but was so out of it, that I couldn’t hear Mr. Ed calling my name.
         He finally gave up on me and let me sleep.
         My time behind the camera came to an end after that ordeal.
       However, I still got to help Mr. Ed take down the microphones after the service and turn all the equipment off.
        And some Sunday mornings I hung around the janitor and maintenance crew in the basement. My dad liked to stop before the sermon and visit with the fellows. I would join my dad and sometimes I would hang around through the church service.
         I could hear the preacher over the sound system, so I got to hang out and hear God’s word at the same time.
         There was a mother and her son who used to clean the church. On some Sundays, the young fellow and I would slip out of the church and listen to rock and roll music in our cars.
          That was probably not approved behavior in my mom’s rule book, but it made for fun memories.
          Anyway, I’m getting a little tired. I think it’s time for a nap.
          I need to gather my strength for the next day’s activities.
          Remember that Good Things are Happening, every day and always.