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The day begins strangely ... then continues
Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 06:44PM 
The odd calls prodded my consciousness like a styrofoam hammer steadily assailing my frontal lobe.
Weeaaaaahhhhhhhh!
Ohhhhhaaaaaaaeeeeuuuuuu!
Haaaaaaaaeeeeeawwwww!
Wooooooohhhhhhaaaahhhh!
After about a dozen of those, I woke up.
It wasn't Javier baying at the barely-up sun (being in the toy group, he bays at nothing) and no, it wasn't a dream.
See, it's like this: I haven't been sleeping well. Too much on my mind, I guess.
Dreading nights of thrashing around trying to locate planet REM, I generally stay up too late.
I'm not an early riser unless I have a job and those have been thin on the ground (well, since the apparent conclusion of what shall henceforth be known as The Court Reporting Blitz Of November 2010, anyway), so I don't worry about oversleeping.
I wake up naturally by eight o'clock no matter when I finally succumb to slumber.
My nightly tendency is to turn off the television after I've watched Forensic Files on the truTV channel. I love that show.
By then it's gone midnight and generally speaking I'm fairly tired but not quite tired enough, so I may read or work a crossword puzzle for awhile.
Eventually I kill the light, beat my pillow into submission, get comfortable, close my eyes, and wait for that welcome fuzzy-muzzy sleep-is-about-to-sink-you-into-oblivion feeling.
If I'm still waiting after what feels like fifteen or twenty minutes, I flick the light back on and watch reruns of The Nanny on Nick at Nite.
Because if anything will make you long for peace and quiet and lack of consciousness, it's the voice of Fran Drescher.
Fingernails scraping the black off a blackboard sounds like a lullaby in comparison.
Last night was no different except I lost interest in Forensic Files before it was all the way over. I had already finished my crossword.
Except, knowing the pattern of the last few attempts to fall sleep before two o'clock in the morning, I went ahead and watched Nanny Fine apply her distinctly nasal wiles to several unlikely situations.
Finally I slept. Fitfullly.
As weak winter light began creeping around the edges of my closed draperies, I heard it.
Weeaaaaahhhhhhhh!
Ohhhhhaaaaaaaeeeeuuuuuu!
Haaaaaaaaeeeeeawwwww!
Wooooooohhhhhhaaaahhhh!
What sounded like Fran Drescher on mind-altering substances -- or perhaps in full-swing labor with those TV twins -- was originating from the street in front of my house.
Disturbing the peace, as it were.
Now, let me pull over and park here for a mo.
I live in a large and well-populated but very serene neighborhood. While not exactly bucolic, it is packed with mature trees which tend to mute what little intrusive noise there is.
With rare exceptions, you can hear a leaf rustle or a squirrel scamper up the trunk of the big oak.
Sometimes in the early mornings, if I'm awake, I'll hear voices and laughter as a gaggle of kids clots a corner, waiting for the school bus.
But this was not that. This was caterwauling and it was being done by a single person.
And it had managed to cross the considerable space between the asphalt and my domicile, filter through my closed windows and my drawn draperies, and pierce my sleeping brain until I was fully awake.
I looked at the clock. No longer seven-fifteen but not yet seven-thirty.
I found my slippers. I turned off the security system. I opened my front door.
It was nineteen degrees outside but I had to know why a banshee had lodged itself in the street and determined to deprive me of what paltry amount of sleep I had managed to make my own.
And I have no problem admitting that I was feeling distinctly curmudgeonly, which is actually the topnote of my personality even at the best of times.
When I've been rudely awakened from elusive slumber?
You maybe don't want to know.
Shivering, I peered out into the street. My house sits up high so the culprit was many feet away from and below me.
She looked up. She appeared to be a girl of about fifteen. And she was alone.
I used my front-porch-to-the-street voice. "Do you realize while you're out here screaming your head off, there may be people who are still trying to rest?"
Maybe I sounded mad. Ask me if I care.
Our neighborhood self-appointed matutinal wailer smiled a smile so sweet, even I could see it despite the distance and the fact that I was using barely-open eyes.
She said, "Sorry!" Said it like she meant it.
I closed the door and went back to bed, but alas the sleep train had pulled out of the station and left me waiting alone beside the cold, deserted tracks.
Barely a memory.
Later, out and about doing a little shopping, I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in a few months. She was behind me in line at Big Lots as I unloaded my cart.
She saw me first but then we both started smiling. Hi! HI! How are you? Fine! How are YOU? Fine, fine!
I told her I had just bought my first Christmas present of the season yesterday. Which is true. She laughed and held up something for me to see.
It was a HUGE furry black toy tarantula. I think it had a remote control.
My friend has no grandchildren so I asked if it was for her husband.
She said yes.
I had planned to go to Wal-Mart but I decided that today, I'd better not risk it.
Reader Comments (14)
I have the same sleep habits as you except I'm usually having to get up at 5:15 to go to work most days! I do know that if I was trying to sleep and someone was caterwauling in my street I would be unhappy!
I love the ornaments. The elephant is perfect and I like the wings your found today!
"Because if anything will make you long for peace and quiet and lack of consciousness, it's the voice of Fran Drescher."
LOL! That line is gold.
Okay, the elephant is scary, I don't care what Mari says. But the girl in the bunny slippers is adorable. And I don't think you should go to Walmart even on days that aren't more Halloween than Christmas.
Love your ornaments. Especially the wings. How awesome. I'm sorry for your disturbed sleep. I live on a rather busy street, and you are right, it is annoying when you're just in that wonderfully sweet sleep and some goof ball makes too much noise. It use to be basketball shots on driveways that kept me awake. and then I shut my windows. I'd pray I fell asleep before the kids woke up. Now I nap in the afternoon, when I'm not working. Sometimes I nap before I go to bed, not intentionally. I found when I walked after supper, I really slept, but I had to do several miles to be tired enough. But I could never go back to sleep after being awakened and MAD about it. Keep well my dear, and hope you rest soon.
Eventually I kill the light, beat my pillow into submission, get comfortable, close my eyes, and wait for that welcome fuzzy-muzzy sleep-is-about-to-sink-you-into-oblivion feeling....boy can I relate girl!
@Angel and Audrey ... I love it when you guys quote me! LOLOL
@Sue ... I don't understand what you said about Wal-Mart and Halloween and Christmas but I like it ... I like it a lot. Also ... my elephant scary? NOOOOO! He cuuuuuute!
@Irene ... You'll be happy to know I slept like a little bitty baby last night! That's the only good thing about insomnia. Eventually it gives way to deep sleep in spite of itself.
@Mari ... I can't believe you get up that early every day, girl. I got up at six for years when working in law firms, and I never ever ever got used to it. I would much rather stay up late than get up early. Does that make any sense?
You have some beautiful ornaments. Ah those sleepless nights are no fun. I love your shot on the homepage of skywatch.
@Carver, thanks for your kind words and thanks for the heads-up about my picture at SkyWatch! I didn't know. Merry Christmas to you, my friend.
Enjoyed your post and photos. I'll bet it's warmer where you are than in snowy Ohio LOL
LOL, I understand about the slumber part. I have to get myself to a state where I am nodding off every 60 seconds while I have my kindle in a death grip. Then, and only then, can I sleep.
A polite teenage banshee and a furry toy tarantula - methinks there is a bit of an illness going on in your neck of the woods!
Oh, and your ornaments are gorgeous! Love "miss ellie" especially, LOL!
Yes, yes, I WILL take pics of my decorating. I was going to do that today, but it never got light enough to do any worthwhile pictures. Stupid rain/sleet/ice stuff going on out there and no good natural light in the house!
Good grief! Do you often have 15 year old girls, going around your neighborhood, wailing like a banshee? Why wasn't she safe and at home, in her own bed?
My hubby always wants "toys" for Christmas, so I always get him one. Beautiful pictures.
As to sleeping, I don't generally have any troubles. It's quiet here except for the birds, squirrels, and other critters and the occasional leaf blower.
Sky Watch brought me to your cyber-space, and I have been enjoying your photos (you have some amazing Christmas ornaments!) and commentary. Have a wonderful weekend! I would tell you that I'm a Morning Person, but that would probably wreck your day, so I won't. :)