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Thursday 27 September 2012

Red Eye - the diary of an insomniac

Here we are again.  1.00 am and not a hope of sleep.

This time it's the painful leg preventing me.  Not that I need an excuse not to sleep.  It has become a way of life.

There's a gale blowing and the windows are rattling, so they have been closed.  That really doesn't help much.  Lack of fresh air is not an aid to healthy sleep - whatever that is.

It has been quite a trying day, problems and tensions and truly awful weather, but that alone would not be enough to cause insomnia.

My leg hurts, but that wouldn't keep me awake if my mind could be battered into submission.

Since it does no good to lie fretting, I invariably get up, go downstairs, prowl around a bit and wind up on the computer.

Oddly the very thing which normally gives me a degree of comfort and at least the feeling of someone being around or contactable, fails dismally in the wee small hours when even the blogs are silent.

Even with the windows shut I can hear an owl hooting.  Not common at this time of the year, but at least someone is up and about.

During the evening my step-daughter rang and told me that Simon her son is coming back from Afghanistan
tomorrow (thank God).  This has been his second tour of duty in that wretched war-torn wreck of a country,
and, I believe, though nothing much can be said about it, it has been a particularly stressful tour this time,

Hopefully, if all goes to plan he will be home for a good long while.

He spent his 20th birthday in Iraq, his 22nd birthday in Afghanistan and has just completed another stint.

Provided the return goes without incident he should be de-briefed, rested and on leave in a few days.

Good news yet one cannot help thinking of the replacements flying out to fill the gaps left by this group.

There seems to be no end to this struggle.

It will make a change to be lighting a candle of thanks rather than a plea for help.

Oh joy, rain is once more battering the windows.  This drought is exceptionally wet!


14 comments:

  1. 2.48am and I am reading your blog.

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  2. oh dear Ray, hope sleep came and visited again before the night was out xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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  3. Yes, I do hope that you managed to get some shut eye before the end of the night.

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  4. On my sleepless night...now thankfully few I plug into an audio book....works every time. Sorry if I've mentioned this before but I find the soothing speech of a good reader transports me to a different place...one where I can sleep! I hope you got off eventually.

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  5. Yes thanks Jane, about 2 hours from 4.00 ish.
    Better than none at all.

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  6. Hi Greenpatches. Yes just a couple of hours but useful.
    At least it stops my lower jaw from dragging on the ground all day.

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  7. I think it's just horses for courses Jean. I can't sit or lie when I'm on a no-sleep jag.
    Moving about for a while then getting my remnant of a brain into gear helps a little. Hence the "Insomnia" series of blogs.

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  8. I am here when most around you are snoozing gently as we are 8 hrs behind.

    We need to find a way to chat on line to help you pass 5 mins or so with me, if it would help.
    x

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  9. Thanks Shona (at least for the offer). It's debatable whether I'm fit for human contact in the middle of the night, and of course, I'm a total technophobe. Our private conversation would probably be on "Breakfast TV" next day.

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  10. I do feel for you in this, Ray. Usually I'm lucky enough to sleep well and for long enough, but from time to time I get spells of insomnia and know how awful it can be. For me reading or doing sudoku in bed (I have my own room) is my preferred method of passing the time until sleep finally arrives. I'm always reluctant to get up and go downstairs in case I wake DH who will then have difficulty nodding off again. One tired person next morning is better than two....

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  11. Yes it is easier for me in that I have no-one to disturb, so can move about freely.
    Years ago, when I was working and we lived in a flat in Northwood, John would sleep heavily while I was cleaning out the kitchen cupboards at 3.00 am. (very very quietly).

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  12. I do sympathise. I suffer from restless leg syndrome and it keeps me up. Like you I go on the computer and wonder what I did before the internet age when my RLS struck.

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  13. I'm sorry to hear about your RLS Jane, I believe it's a pretty grim complaint.
    The computer is a useful escape from simply lying there isn't it?
    It is I suppose marginally more active than watching TV.

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