« A Whole New Day | Main | A Wrench »
April 24, 2006
Insomnia
I've never had trouble sleeping. People accuse me of falling asleep anywhere the mood strikes me or fatigue overcomes me. I use airplane trips as excuses to catch up on sleep; I'm the girl curled into a freakishly small ball in a single airplane seat, totally unconscious. Once on a ferry off the coast of East Africa and so danged seasick, I thought sleeping was a better option; I awoke refreshed and not green about the gills anymore. And a car? I cannot stay awake in a car if I'm not driving. So, why can't I sleep this week?
If I counted up the hours of sleep I've gotten in my last 4 "nights" (Which are actually days since I'm working the night shift.), the number would be horrifying. I'm pretty tired, but I can't sleep.
There are two problems:
1) Daylight. When I get home from work, it's daylight. I've partially remedied this problem by putting up darkening shades in my bedroom. I can't do anything about the other part of the problem, that I watch the sunrise as I'm going home from work and it just feels like morning.
2) Ground squirrels. I guess they've woken from their winter hibernation. I count 14 ground squirrel holes in my yard alone. I think I wake them up when I get home from work. Like clockwork, I crawl into bed and I hear their ridiculous "Weeeeeeeet!" calls, which, incidentally, strike a painful pitch in the human ear, in addition to their annoying frequency. Living and working in a national park, I'm supposed to be the caretaker of nature and all that crap, but mostly I want to toss Decon down those 14 holes and enjoy some silence.
This morning:
6:10 am. Arriving home from work, I'm greeted by 2 ground squirrel heads poking sleepily out of their holes. Let the game begin, I think they're thinking.
6:22 am. Climb into bed, glance at the clock, stare at the ceiling, shut my eyes into peaceful, sleepy bliss.
6:23 am. "Weeeeeeeet!"
6:24 am. "Weeeeeeeet!" "Weeeeeeeet!"
6:25 am. "Weeeeeeeet!" "Weeeeeeeet!" "Weeeeeeeet!"
6:26 am. Roll over, cringe, pull pillow over head.
6:27 am. "Weeeeeeeet!"
6:28 am. Slide deeper under the covers, with the hope of muffling more noise.
6:29 am. "Weeeeeeeet!" "Weeeeeeeet!"
6:30 am. Drugs. I wish I had sleeping pills. I wish I had Prozac. I wish I had Decon.
6:31 am. "Weeeeeeeet!" "Weeeeeeeet!" "Weeeeeeeet!"
6:32 am. OH GOD!
7:24 am. Finally, the last time I remember looking at the clock. Unconsciousness must have occured right after this.
I've digressed embarrassingly far, haven't I? I did run today, but it was entirely eventful. I ran 6 miles easy with 5 strides at the end. The sun was out but it was still a little chilly. I wore pants and regretted it, too warm for pants. Things are starting to get busy around here as the park wakens from its winter slumber. The roads are opening, people are camping in numbers, the hotels will shortly open. With this, inattentive tourists are starting to reclaim those roads that I had mostly to myself this winter. I'm sad for this, but I'll obligingly give them back and not risk my life and my dog's out there. Fine tourists, take the roads!
Tomorrow's a workout. I will hopefully have more running and less rodent death wishes to write about.
Posted by Meghan at April 24, 2006 7:34 PM
Comments
Hey Meghan! I really hope you get some sleep soon - I hate the feeling of having not slept in a few nights. Good luck with the workout tomorrow :)
Posted by: bridget at April 25, 2006 4:05 PM