Sleep. A short word.
Sleeeep! I can hear it. The sound is enough to make me want to curl up in a favourite chair and let the world pass by on the other side, while I drift off to nothingness.
Ha Ha!
I go to bed tired, with socks on, make sure my feet are warm, snuggle under my 13.5 tog Down and Feather duvet, with only my nose and mouth uncovered, then close my eyes and relax. I may drift off for an hour, some times two, but three consecutive hours seems to be my limit at any one time. I wake up FROZEN. Deep cold through my body, like someone has stolen my duvet , or placed me beside the open door of a freezer!
I remember Jack telling my mother, shortly after we married, that I frightened him one night. I was asleep, no sign of movement or breathing. He placed his face close to mine, but there was no sound or feeling of breath. My right arm was cold and felt like marble. It took him a full hour to massage the arm back to normal heat and softness.
Mammy informed him AND me, that I was like that all through childhood, She said she kept a small vanity mirror from a handbag in my bedroom, so she could hold it close to my nose & mouth for signs of breathing.
I remember her teasing me, that at times there was no need to remake my bed, I never moved to toss it about.
Radio is my answer with the voices low enough to just hear the sound.
Now if I do sleep, it is always after Sailing By* and I am regularly awake for the change over from BBC World Service to BBC Radio 4 at 05:20 each morning.
Reading is hopeless, My eyes get tired quickly and I lose concentration as the words dance about the page, re reading the same paragraph over and over is a pain in the proverbial.
I have tried audio books but the Narrator’s voice has to be right or I just cannot listen for more than a few sentences.
* “Sailing By” composed by Ronald Binge in 1963 and performed by the Alan Perry/William Gardner Orchestra, and below is the version used by the BBC for the lead in to the late night shipping forecast.
Sweet Dreams, my lovelies!