Wednesday, May 20, 2009

No Rage Here

Dylan Thomas entreats us to rage against the dying of the light. My apologies to Mr. Thomas, but I really wish the light would just die, already.

You would probably like an explanation of that, yes?

I have mentioned before that I sleep a lot. A LOT a lot. Specifically, from 9 p.m.-6:30 a.m. However, I am not a heavy sleeper. I can't sleep through everything. Or anything, for that matter. I certainly can't sleep when it's light. At this time of year, there aren't enough dark hours for me to sleep as much as I want to. When we go to bed at 9 p.m., the birds are still singing and the light seeps in around our bamboo window shade. So I lie there until it gets dark enough for me to fall asleep. Then, around 5:30 a.m., again with the birds and the light and the lying there, not quite awake, not really asleep. It's very irritating. The lack of sleep gets worse when it gets hot because I ALSO can't sleep if it's too hot. So basically, I spend all summer sleep-deprived and irritable.

I'm really fun to live with. Just ask A.

The summer solstice is on June 21 this year, which means I have another full month before the daylight even starts to lessen. Then another couple of months before it's dark at bedtime again. Welcome to my own personal hell.

What keeps you awake, duckies?
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14 comments:

  1. Chiot's RunMay 20, 2009 at 7:03 AM

    Too many thoughts about money. I'm a saver by nature, so I'm always mulling over the totals of all of my savings accounts and trying to decide how much I'm saving when I pay extra on my mortgage. Those damn numbers dance around in my head all night long as I try to save even more money. GRRRR.

    A cup of nighty night tea and some benedryl get me off to sleep when I've had a particularly bad week and I actually need to sleep to be productive at work.

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  2. SaraMay 20, 2009 at 7:52 AM

    Everything. I used to sleep through everything (even the smoke alarm, which is super scary). Now every little thing wakes me up...and keeps me up. I was up late last night for no good reason, just generally feeling down, and the sooner I went to bed, the sooner I'd have to get up and go to work. Blech.

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  3. MeadowlarkMay 20, 2009 at 8:16 AM

    I hear ya. 5am this morning. Light or noise and I'm awake. :(

    Try blackout shades.

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  4. Phoo-DMay 20, 2009 at 8:26 AM

    The light gets me everytime too. I really need to invest in some blackout shades.

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  5. Aunt KrissyMay 20, 2009 at 8:46 AM

    Being from Alaska the light does not bother me at all. What keeps me awake is the heat. I have to have a cool bedroom. I have a fan running at night for that.

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  6. mdvelazquezMay 20, 2009 at 10:42 AM

    I wish I could sleep. From the age of nine (I'm 41) until the end of 2007, I averaged 4 hours a night. Since then, I'm averaging an hour a night. I have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, unfortunately.

    I'm envious of all your sleeping.

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  7. SaintTigerlilyMay 20, 2009 at 10:51 AM

    What keeps me up?

    A revolving picture show of everything I've ever done wrong or thought I had done wrong.

    Also: obsessing about cancer.

    Aaaaand this is why I can't sleep without taking a pill.

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  8. krystaMay 20, 2009 at 11:26 AM

    i have the same problem as tiger lily... just not the cancer part.

    and nightmares(which is funny, i know). if i have a nightmare i'm done... can't sleep anymore and normally the next night also.

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  9. Garden PheenixMay 20, 2009 at 11:45 AM

    Black out curtains! Buy em. Love em.

    Nothing keeps me awake. Epic divorce, health issues, money issues, you name it going on right now... sleeeep is the best thing ever and nothing stops it including sunlight :c)

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  10. FinnyKnitsMay 20, 2009 at 2:15 PM

    Heat. I can not sleep when it's hot. I get headaches and migraines and sweaty and mean.

    Bubba's worse than me.

    Light, however, is not a problem. Which is why daytime napping is my fallback in the event of a too hot night sleep.

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  11. thptMay 20, 2009 at 2:23 PM

    Anything keeps me up. This is why we have seperate beds. He sleeps like a very noisy log, I sleep like a wagon wheel that swats when awakened.

    These help me sleep EVEN IN THE HEIGHT OF THE HEAT, LIGHT, AND NOISE of a city afternoon:

    http://www.amazon.com/HoMedics-SS-2000-Relaxation-Machine-Nature/dp/B000F3QG0U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1242850732&sr=8-1

    http://www.amazon.com/Eclipse-Antibes-Thermaback-Panel-%252842x63%2522%2529/dp/B001BRI2FQ/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1242850822&sr=8-5

    They're lovely. Tip: get the curtains long, so they reach all the way to the floor, and hang them flat from a rod that bumps the wall. This keeps the window practically sealed against heat and light -- we stuck hooks into the windowsil and eyebolts into the wooden rod. Ta-da!

    I keep repeating to myself "Your only job is to sleep and rest. That's it. All night. Your only job is to sleep and rest." It works, too!

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  12. sheilaMay 20, 2009 at 4:39 PM

    Quiet will wake me up. Comes from having kids. When everything gets eerily quiet, you know the kids are up to something. Kids are all grown now, but that has never left me. Sleep is hard to come by. Naps are good however. Only thing keeping me going sometimes.

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  13. Tami bami wamiMay 20, 2009 at 6:46 PM

    If i have a headache it's hard for me to fall asleep.

    Otherwise i'm a heavy sleeper. Ask my parents...they tried to wake me up for church one time and i slept through everything they tried including dragging me out of bed. When i woke up i was like "Where's everyone?"

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  14. KayMay 21, 2009 at 1:21 PM

    I can usually get to sleep, but damn guinea hens at 5:30 a.m. will make this Farmer's Wife VERY cranky. And then the cows start in around 6 a.m. Or sooner if they think they hear us in the house or see lights on.

    I can never sleep late in the spring/summer. It gets too hot to quickly in our east-facing bedroom

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