Why is it that, in the middle of the night, any thought or activity that might reasonably and satisfyingly fill up a break in the DAY, becomes totally unsatisfactory and well nigh impossible in the middle of the NIGHT?
First port of call: book. I'm reading a perfectly fine attention-grabbing book (Green Darkness by Anya Seton. A ghost/reincarnation easy read, chosen for the afore-mentioned journey. And it helped then. Now? Really don't care about the black-robed priest and the innocent(-ish!) maiden. This novel, by the way, is based on factual evidence in a place where I used to work. Ightham Mote in Kent. During renovations there, they found a bricked up space in a wall. When they took the bricks away they found, in the narrowest of spaces, an upright skeleton of a young woman. I was the Education Officer there for a year, way back when. Wandering around there on a winter's day, when no-one else was around, was definitely spooky).
Next: put the kettle on for a hot drink and a biscuit. However, that would involve leaving the comfort of my bed and going downstairs. Seems like too much trouble really. It reminds me of when my younger son was teaching. He asked a boy why he had shouted out an answer instead of first putting up his hand and waiting. His reply? "S'effort, innit sir?!" Quite.
Next: household chores. Well, that isn't happening, so let's skip over that.
Next: some sewing or knitting or painting or crocheting. All very enticing. All theoretically possible, except that I haven't unpacked yet, so it would involve unpacking. Unpacking is one of my least favourite activities. Unpacking involves lifting and sorting and deciding. When I arrived, I decided to leave the unpacking until the morning. So why would I now get up in the middle of the night to do it. (Have you ever thought of the effort it takes - still talking about unpacking - to shop? The movements involved? You take the items off the shelves (1) and put them in the trolley (2). You take them out of the trolley (3) and put them on that moving thing (4) that definitely goes faster when the cashier has scanned each item, so at the other end a mound of shopping is threatening to engulf you despite your frantic efforts to keep up. You put the items in bags (5). You put the bags back in the trolley (cart) (6). You take the bags out of the trolley (7). You put the bags into the boot (trunk) (8). You drive home and take the bags out of the car (9). You take the bags into the kitchen or wherever you store your food (10). You take the items out of the bags (11). You put them into cupboards/fridge/freezer (12). By then you've lost the will to eat. (Well, actually that's not true - if only it were!) So unpacking is not happening in the middle of the night.
Next: go outside. Definitely not happening - it's dark and I am afraid of the dark. Not happening.
Next: I shan't go on, because I'm sure anyone who started reading this is by now fast asleep and snoring, whatever time of day or night it is.
I'm still awake. Aaaaaagh!
sleeping is overrated anyway (lying wide awake and writing at 4am is the new black)
ReplyDeleteI get it! Anything that would seem 'normal' while the sun is up turns into 'weird' in the dark...go figure!
ReplyDelete