Night was made for sleeping, or at least, that’s what my biological clock says. It takes major life adjustments for me to stay awake on a different schedule, but when I was young, it often happened at work. Shift work. Evenings. Graveyard.
When living in Alaska, you had to focus your mindset on the clock. When it’s your regular bedtime, go to bed, even if it’s still light outside. We had neighborhood kids coming over to ask our kids to play as it neared midnight. Yes. The sun stays up longer in the summer, the further north you go. The reverse is true for the winter. Minimal sun, and you missed it if you worked inside a computer room.
Over the past few years, my nighttime routine has changed. I don’t enjoy it. It’s harder to sleep the night away, and I feel like I’m slipping through 30-minute segments of sleep, with waking moments of thought or hearing the dogs chase a coyote howl.
If you have outside dogs,
and you live in the country,
you learn quickly.
The night never sleeps.
If I could capture the thoughts automatically, or keep the night noises down to a minimum, then maybe the rest I need will come more readily. As of today, I feel like I’m slipping through the night, grabbing hold of rest as I pass it by.
“Watchman, what of the night?”
(Isaiah 21:10-11)
A lot of life happens in the night hours.
I remember television signals going silent by midnight, and there’s nothing on until the “Farm Report” around 5:30-6:00 a.m. I learned about hog futures before the cartoons started playing. Newly married, there was a non-standard dial on a special TV that allowed it to tune into the UHF signals. If you held the antennas just right, you could watch all-night movies on the weekend.
Yes. I’m that old.
There was a time when both Houston newspapers delivered early morning. Sometimes, I found myself outside about 4:30 a.m. waiting on the delivery. Those were the years when I could get by on just a few hours of rest and work the daylight hours to my hearts content and never feel tired.
Not today.
As I slow down, life seems to speed up. Technology is partly to blame. The remainder of the blame comes from aging, a symptom I fight. I’m not ready for it. “Retirement” is not something I look forward to, although a change of pace and responsibility would be nice.
If I’m not careful, I’ll start slipping through the day.
AI helps me think through this thought and I appreciate a second opinion for all my questions. Today, it gave me a poem which I’ve modified for this thought.
When Sleep Draws Near
My world grows quiet, the lights dim low,
The pace I’ve walked begins to slow.
Thoughts like feathers drift and fade,
As night-time pulls its silver shade.
The ticking clock, a lullaby tune?
The hush of stars, the rise of moon.
I fold the day with gentle care,
And breathe in softly evening’s prayer.
No need to fix what can’t be done,
The race is paused, the work is none.
I close my eyes and let things be—
As sleep unlocks the night for me.
Now… Trust scripture comes to my aid.
A song of ascents, by Solomon.
If the LORD does not build a house,
then those who build it work in vain.
If the LORD does not guard a city,
then the watchman stands guard in vain.
It is vain for you to rise early, come home late, and work so hard for your food.
Yes, he provides for those whom he loves even when they sleep.
Psalms 127:1-2 NET
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