Good Morning.
Old people have trouble sleeping. Everyone tosses around from time to time but the senior crowd does it routinely. It may be because we have body parts that are going haywire or because we worry a lot. In any case many of us thrash our way through the night and this is why we take a lot of naps, usually in a chair. Not sure about this guy and his wine in the middle of the day. I don't need anything to nod off.
I have a queen-sized canopy bed with bed drapes. I have nice sheets, two pillows on each side, a blanket, and a thick, quilted bedspread. On the floor beside the bed is a soft wool blanket and a couple of pillows for the dog. I leave a greater portion of my blanket and spread on the dog side so it makes a curtain against any drafts from under the bed. She gets a rubber kong filled with peanut butter as a bedtime snack and two ice cubes. She eats the peanut butter treat first and then patrols the house, every square inch of it, presumably to make sure it's safe for the night. She then returns to chomp on the ice cubes and settles down on her blankie. I leave a light on in the room across the hall. I've never had a completely dark home in my life except during a power failure in which case I light a bunch of candles. Darkness creeps me out which is why I don't understand people who wear sleep shades. I'm claustrophobic and that means no big doors across my eyes and no socks.
A lot of people wear socks to bed but they probably have no problem with elevators.
I cannot sleep on my back. I sleep on either side and go back and forth all night. My shoulders need to be wrapped in the covers or I get cold, even during the summer. My father used to swaddle his head in his sheet. He was bald which is why my shoulders need to be covered; they are also bald, fortunately, and none of my nightwear has sleeves but all of it tends to get
bunched up because of my tossing. I must get some pajamas but not pajamas with feet.
I keep a letter opener on the bedside table next to my phone but not as a weapon. It makes an excellent back scratcher for those of you who live alone. I also have a picture of my husband and me when we dressed up in Old West clothes for a photo we had taken in Deadwood. It's my favorite picture of us. I like sepia, being an earth tone person, and the photographer touched it up and made us look ten years younger.
When, not if, I'm awake for awhile, I play the alphabet game. I make myself name stuff starting with each letter of the alphabet in various categories like movies, famous people, world cities, occupations, grocery store products, novels, composers, and people from my childhood. This activity does not get me back to sleep; it keeps me awake, particularly if I'm trying to come up with something starting with Q or X.
The dog gets antsy anywhere from 6:30 to 8 a.m. She makes subtle little noises to go out and if I ignore her, she hops on the bed and stares at me. I haven't needed an alarm clock for years, and the one I have now has an annoying tick tock. I block out the sound with a fan on the dresser because I need white noise to sleep at all which is why I can't sleep anywhere else unless I haul the fan with me. I've actually been known to do that. My sleep habits would probably be appropriate subject matter for a dissertation in psychology. Oh well.
Best regards,
Elisabeth
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