Ah, sleep; shuteye; snooze; off to bed; resting place; etc. etc.

William Shakespeare put it this way: “To sleep, perchance to dream.” Several other poets have used the term “repose.” It sounds better than “hit the sack.”

Of course, I’m talking about my favorite pastime. In general, you‘ve just got to rest sometimes, and for most folks, a bed is the best place. And that brings us to the history of the bed.

Now the online history goes back 77,000 years. Well, sure there should be a starting place and we can be assured that humans found something softer than the hard earth to rest their tired bodies. So let’s just say a bed of weeds probably.

The metal bed frame and squeaky springs came much later. Before that, there were wooden frames with straps that needed to be tighten occasionally. It’s where the term “sleep tight” comes from. There were stuffed mattresses with cotton, straw or feathers. Yes, Stephanie, feathers. In my book, “Ramblin’s and Recollections,” I described the feather bed, which I spent my childhood on, as “a shapeless, striped, soft mass of comfort, and when you jumped in, well, it just hugged you up.”

If we are talking about a resting place, I’d start with being cuddled up in your mother’s arms. Then on to a cradle, crib and then a bed. Your own bed. For many, that may have taken several years. (In olden days, folks all slept together to keep warm. I’ve even heard of babes sleeping in a dresser drawer.) Finally comes the luxury of your own bed in your own room with a “keep out” sign on the door. But then you probably ended up in a dorm room with that geek.

The type of bed you slept on might depend on the part of the country you were raised in. City, county, north, south, you name it. So let’s name a few.

It could have been a trundle bed. In case you don’t know, it is a small bed that pulled out from under the main bed. It might have been a Murphy bed. In case you still don’t know beds, it’s one that folded into the wall. Great for a small apartment. You might have slept in a canopy bed. You know, a four-poster and fringe all around the top. La dee da!

It might not have been so fancy, maybe a sofa bed or davenport. I usually found just sleeping on the sofa was more comfortable than pulling it out. There is also the futon or a day bed. Those are ones that can be used to sit on when not needed as a sleeping place. If you want to splash, try a waterbed. Or be individual with a sleep number arrangement. How about a memory foam that remembers what bad of shape you are in.

Beds come in all shapes and sizes. I doubt you have a heart-shaped one like Hugh Hefner. Well, maybe. There, of course, are single, double, queen and king sizes. There also are those high up ones that you store your in-law’s Christmas gift under. You bring it out before they visit.

We can get even worse by adding the cot to the list. Maybe an Army cot. Well, it was better than a foxhole. There are folding, rollaway ones just for company. No, never give them your bed.

I think the worst for me was the one on the troop ship going over to Korea. These so-called bunks were metal pipes, which made the framework with canvas laced in between. These were stacked about two feet apart so you just slid in and couldn’t raise up. Great chance of surviving in case the ship sank, which, by the way, it did sink a few years later. Luckily, there were no troops aboard at the time.

So I wish you a good sleep wherever you find a place. It might just be like the recliner where I “rest my eyes” or at the desk at your office. Sleep tight!

Don Hill is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force who served in Korea during the Korean War. He also is a resident of Seymour and has served as a volunteer at Southern Indiana Center for the Arts for more than a quarter of a century. Send comments to [email protected].