Farm Girl

"Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." Benjamin Franklin

My normal body clock awakens me between 4:00 AM and 5:00 AM. I force myself to stay in bed until 5:00. I used to envy people who could sleep late but I've learned to appreciate this quirk. In many ways, it is my favorite part of the day. I relax with coffee and the newspaper. I watch the local news. I relax and plan my day before the hyperactivity kicks in.

I like to go to bed early. My oldies tease me about a curfew and we laugh about how ridiculous this is since I usually go to bed around 9:00 PM. Don't be jealous of my exciting habits!

My sleep cycle is a lot like farmers. I might have made a good farm girl except for that pesky part about working the farm.

What Time Is It?

My room in Manhattan is quite spacious, as New York hotel rooms go. I'm not one of those people who complains about hotel rooms. I need a clean bathroom, a semi-comfortable bed, a desk and a chair. I'm set.

As all semi-insomniacs know, we have a perverse need to know the time. If I wake at 2:00 AM, I will try to lull myself back to sleep. If I wake at 5:00 AM, the time it will take to get back to sleep isn't worth the effort. I'll just get up.

The clock in my room is very new age and probably expensive. You can play/charge/awake to your iPod. (I didn't bring mine.) But, it's bolted to the nightstand and faces the middle of the room rather than the bed. To see the time, I have to sit up, move over and practically get out of bed.

It never occurred to me to pack Hangdog's "ding" watch -- the one that loudly announces the time. Since we inherited it, I may make it a permanent part of my packing list.

Dreamland

Last night was the first night I've had alone in eons. No oldies prowling and no husband poking me.

I know people who cannot sleep when they are home alone. They hear every creak in the house and get nervous. I am the exact opposite. When I am home alone, I lock up, set the alarm and go to bed. When the oldies are here, I have one ear and one eye open listening for a fall or a fire. The oldies made it safely to Texas. I will write more about that later.

Sleep does not come easily to me. I guess my body is trying to tell me something because last night I slept for more than nine hours.

Who Would Call at This Hour?

I woke at my usual 4:00 A.M. and I got up at 5:00 A.M. this morning. No use flopping around. My first phone call came at 5:30 A.M.

I have amassed this group of people who are all awake and they know I'm up too. When the husband is sleeping, he gets a little cranky about it. "Who would call at this hour?"

During the 2000 elections when Bush was our president, then Gore was our president, then Bush was our president, I was obsessed. I knew my friend Dean was up and watching. I knew I could call him and I did. Often.

When we went through 9/11, I knew who I could call. I had lots of middle of the night calls. "Switch the channel. Watch this..." So I did.

The early morning phone calls work for me. I'm up. I'm ready.

Most nights, I take my bath and don my pjs. I settle in by 9:00 P.M. I go through my pre-sleep rituals (they don't work.) Then, the phone rings -- usually for the husband. And I get to say, "Who would call at this hour?"