Sleep

Sleep—staying asleep--has become a challenge. The arthritis in my hip wakes me. Or the heat. Mostly, it’s the heat. Even though it is 17 degrees outside.

I turn down the thermostat before I go to bed and open the window before turning out the light but like clockwork, sometime around 3 (this morning it was 1 and 3) I awaken, a human furnace under the covers. I throw off the quilt, then the sheet. Then I strip down. Then, of course, I get cold.

This routine repeats itself until I finally get up to pee. By then it’s 3:30, sometimes 4.

It occurs to me to stay up (and to start a dairy farm, since I seem to have the schedule down) but the thought of making coffee and starting my day this early feels too lonely.

So I crawl back into bed, half-dressed, cooled-off but not too cold, and sink into a deep sleep, completely missing my 5:30 alarm.

This age requires tremendous self-acceptance, not to mention a generous sense of humor.