3 AM

3AM is tonight’s middle-of-the night arising here in the middle of the world.

For a long time it seemed to be always 3:33AM.

Age brings the call of the bathroom during sleep hours and with that the possibility that sleepiness will not be waiting for me once I get back in bed. Reading, writing, getting a glass of water.....the mundane things one does to fill that void are many. Sometimes they work, sometimes not, and two hours spent restlessly awake is not unusual.

Sleep is its own universe of biorhythms, sounds (interruptions or lack of them), dreaming, movement. So many things help or inhibit sleep. Sleeping completely through the night is an anomaly for me.

It’s sprinkling outside. The occasional swish of car tires arcs through the relative silence in this room. Rain, any rain, in the midst of near-drought conditions, is welcome. I have an old clock radio that plays “natural” sounds. I always choose the constant rain sound.

So far tonight, however, it hasn’t helped.