I had to wake up this morning at 5:00 to see Gabe off on a school trip. Naturally, Asa woke up too, and he was not particulary interested in my plan to go right back to sleep when Gabe departed at 5:30. I ended up with a little nap before getting up to face the day. Instead of my usual natural awakening with the stirrings of the house, I had to rely twice on my alarm, and each time I awoke startled from a deep slumber.

Baruch atah adonai eloheinu chey ha-olamim ha ma'avir sheynah metna utnumah me'afapay. Blessed are you, a Fountain of Blessings are You, the Awakener, Our God, Life of All the Worlds, who removes sleep from my eyes and slumber from my eyelids.

I needed all the help I could get to awaken fully today. I was so dazed on my way to work that I forgot that my new routine is to sing the morning blessings during my drive to work. Something on the I-95/Rte 146 interchange reminded me, so I managed to get a few blessings in before I arrived at work, aware only that I was not really aware.

Later in the evening, I stood outside in our backyard in the golden light just before the sun set and let the word Baruch come into focus. Blessed, A Fountain of Blessings. I felt the huge blessing of the gorgeous evening envelope me, rain down on me, and felt my feet on the ground, my center within me, and tuned into this fountain of blessings that flows from me and back to me.