Sunday, July 27, 2008

The Difference Is Night and Day

I like to stay up late. I always have. Whether a result of parental habits or genetics, I am a night owl.

I feel most productive at night. It is under the cover of night when I think most clearly and feel most comfortable in my own skin. I have had the day to work out the kinks and clear away the worries. I finally begin to feel settled and calm, and I realize it's 9:00 at night. My husband is getting ready for bed, and I'm just getting started.

Some nights I hate to go to bed because I know I have to start the process all over again in the morning. And if I haven't been sleeping well, which I haven't, the last thing I want is to climb into bed, where I toss and turn and confront circular thinking. When sleep finally comes, it is with bizarre dreams and images that provide no comfort and answer no questions. Then I struggle to awake in the morning to start the cycle anew.

Today Ken and I went for a four-mile walk on the rail trail along the river. The sun was hot, and the breeze was strong. It felt good to stretch my legs, swing my arms, and wipe sweat from my forehead. I needed to be outside, to move and not think. We inspected a new pier on the river. We sidestepped bicycles on the path.

Then, after our walk, we stopped for sweets and a cold drink in an air-conditioned diner. In the ladies room I was stung by a bee, which struck me as odd since I had just spent an hour outside with nary an insect present. Outside came in....

And inside went out with the work we did on the porch yesterday. We want to enjoy the space so we cleared away the cobwebs and carted away the clutter. We centered a wooden bench for the view down the driveway and stood back to admire the result. It works as an outside living space, under cover from the sun and the rain.

So the days move along and the nights crawl by. Since there is no good time to start the day, I may as well stay up late. Then sleep will come more quickly and I can start again tomorrow....

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're a night own, eh? I was just thinking about this. I used to be more of a night person -- I slept in late up until I turned 50. It's weird, now I rise very early, with the sun, and seem to be more productive while others are asleep. I do my best writing then. I also like to weed or water my garden at the crack of dawn, before the neighbors notice me in my pajamas...

Anonymous said...

People sleep at night? I think I slept more when the cherubs were little. Now it is up when one of then comes in or leaves (sometimes I do sleep through this), but neither the dog nor the cat sleep through the night if they are inside. I will put them outside before I go to sleep and someone else will let them in when they come in.....

I have not touched anything that I dropped when I came in from school a month ago. Although it is hard to pretend with less than a month to go, I am pretending that I don't have to go back. As you can tell, it is not my dream job. I am sorry your dream job did not come through. Dreams,,,

Kristen said...

I'd prefer to believe that it's genetics, because then I have a perfectly wonderful reason why I like to stay up until 2am, and sleep til 10.

Sorry to hear about the bee - that's one of the stranger stinging stories I've heard this week.