Great installment, and thanks for the link to your WaPo piece! I no longer subscribe to the Seattle Times but am still emailed the headlines, and in their Sunday issue today was an article on "pet attendants" for weddings. I couldn't read said article due to paywall but a quick Google offered a link to this WA service: https://www.wagsdowntheaisle.com/ I know this isn't truly within the scope of your WaPo article, but is perhaps related in the sense of how legally and ritualistically entwined our relationships with our pets are becoming. In any event, Happy Sunday!
I've seen so many pets as attendants, it makes sense that there would be services dedicated to making it go smoothly for the fur babies. It's truly amazing the rise of pet-related services in the legal realm and otherwise in the last few years. Especially because the reality is that we still consume far more animals than we keep as pets!
I enjoyed where you started and where you ended up in this piece! Especially appreciated your insights on the “second sleep.” I first learned about this concept as a relatively novice insomniac (never experienced such a thing pre-motherhood/pre-pandemic) while reading Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle. The main character refers to it as “dorvay” / “dorveille.”
Ooh, the Frenchie in me wonders about the etymology there. I think I'm wrong, but the word reminds me of a cross between *dormir* and *veille*, which I think is widow? I'm not looking it up because I want it to be "widow's sleep" or something.
But yes -- I genuinely wonder what it would be like if we made room for second sleep in our lives! And even if we'll just never be fully rested because we'll never have a truly dark sky above us as our ancestors did.
Great installment, and thanks for the link to your WaPo piece! I no longer subscribe to the Seattle Times but am still emailed the headlines, and in their Sunday issue today was an article on "pet attendants" for weddings. I couldn't read said article due to paywall but a quick Google offered a link to this WA service: https://www.wagsdowntheaisle.com/ I know this isn't truly within the scope of your WaPo article, but is perhaps related in the sense of how legally and ritualistically entwined our relationships with our pets are becoming. In any event, Happy Sunday!
Thanks for reading and for sharing that link!
I've seen so many pets as attendants, it makes sense that there would be services dedicated to making it go smoothly for the fur babies. It's truly amazing the rise of pet-related services in the legal realm and otherwise in the last few years. Especially because the reality is that we still consume far more animals than we keep as pets!
I enjoyed where you started and where you ended up in this piece! Especially appreciated your insights on the “second sleep.” I first learned about this concept as a relatively novice insomniac (never experienced such a thing pre-motherhood/pre-pandemic) while reading Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle. The main character refers to it as “dorvay” / “dorveille.”
Ooh, the Frenchie in me wonders about the etymology there. I think I'm wrong, but the word reminds me of a cross between *dormir* and *veille*, which I think is widow? I'm not looking it up because I want it to be "widow's sleep" or something.
But yes -- I genuinely wonder what it would be like if we made room for second sleep in our lives! And even if we'll just never be fully rested because we'll never have a truly dark sky above us as our ancestors did.