Twenty seven degrees is seasonable for three hours past a DC January midnight, but is an unreasonable temperature for an insomniac to sit outside and try to force thoughts from brain to fingers to computer keys. I have little hope that cold air in my lungs or words on a screen will help me find restful sleep for the first time in a fortnight but what else do I have to do?
As I sit here, I am struck by the complete stillness of this night, like the air is being too stubborn to move. Only manualy driven wisps of my cigar smoke move in the darkness. Ideas do not come, words refuse to form, and sleep keeps mocking me.
An hour is enough.
Oh yeah, since it is Wednesday, I took my turn as contributing editor at DC Blogs. Go on – check out that which moved me more than most this past week.
Outside? Brrr! That’s enough to push you back beneath the covers. Wishing you a night of tranquil rest.
insomnia blows my mind. i guess i should consider myself lucky.
and sitting outside in the cold is how i wake up or sober up. not get sleepy.
do you ever update your restaurant listings?
Writing – getting out what I’m fretting about or even just email – usually helps me fall back asleep. But you would not find me outdoors when I don’t absolutely HAVE to be in this weather. I take the low temps very personally (and use lots of profanity).
I can’t even sit in my sunroom these days. Brrrr.
Buy a moleskine; hearing the crack of the spine each time you turn the page is about as soothing of a noise as I can imagine. And it works just as well from the comforts of your warm bed.
i’ve always preferred to count stars than sheep as i watch the vapors rise above my head from my warm breath. in my mind, that’s the only valid reason for 4:00 a.m. to even exist.
I often conquer insomnia with a little….um….well, by getting a little…. Okay, let’s try this another way.
So, um, from the perspective of a single girl, it involves batteries and some imagination.
There.
Wow, when did I become such a prude?!?!?!