Barbara J. Hamby

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The Mystery of Sleep

For the first forty or fifty years of my adult life, and even back into my teens, it seemed as if I never had enough hours in a day to get a decent amount of sleep. In college, I bragged that I could sleep standing up on a bus and I remember doing that. It seemed as if getting into bed before I fell asleep was a challenge most of the time.

Of course, now that I can get to bed at a decent hour, I seem to have trouble falling asleep about half the time. If I get up and read, especially if I have a boring book, I can usually get sleepy after a while.

Sometimes I feel as if I’m drifting off and then something pops into my head that won’t let it shut down.

I’ve read a lot about sleep and sleep habits and tried all the widely varying suggestions that the “sleep experts” advise. However, getting up and writing at the computer keyboard is not usually recommended. I decided to do that this morning anyway.

We fly to Maui a week from today and, once when I closed my eyes last night, I saw palm trees in silhouette. If only the wind were blowing through them, perhaps it would lull me to sleep. Or if I could conjure up a Don Ho melody--that might work.

I am in a slow-moving part of the book I’m reading right now, so I guess I’ll give it a shot.

I just glanced at my email and read, “Can Lack of Sleep Make You Sick?” the subject of a newsletter article. Thanks, I needed that.