Sleep; rather lack of it!

I find myself with a little time on my hands today; 'best laid plans of mice and men,' to coin a phrase. No bad thing in my book, as last night was another sleepless one, for me at least. The hot weather currently descending across southern Europe; hotter, so much hotter than last year; is causing me to toss and turn all night and not in a good way. Just when you think it can't get any more humid, it does. As a person who never really liked the heat, I personally think I am adapting well, though others may disagree. There is 'something about the night' about me, refusing to leave the house, during more sunnier moments, which in Spain, is most of the time, but as one enters ones second summer living on the Costa Blanca, I am coping far better than I did last year; except at night!

Myself and Darrell tend to sleep in separate beds at the moment; a lack of sleep brought about by the heat of the night compounded by the snores of ones husband is not an option I have as yet contemplated. Darrell's snoring has been a great source of angst over the years. If Darrell lays flat on his back, the noise is unbearable. I have learned to push him on to his right side, his face against the wall; in this repose rarely a snore can be heard. One has to sleep with ones elbow extended to his side of the bed; laying flat becomes an impossibility, keeping Darrell on his side, silent, not a peep. In the UK, I would also wear ear plugs, in Spain, finding a pair, is tantamount to wasting yet another two hours of ones life, like the queue in the bank; in Spain, I just cope. The extended elbow also helps with Darrell's sleep apnoea. I am a very light sleeper; as I hear a pin drop, I can detect when Darrell stops breathing. A short sharp nudge in the back, brings him back to life. Of course sleeping separately, I just cross my fingers and hope for the best!

Myself and Darrell have very different sleeping patterns you wont be surprised to learn. We are opposites in everything we do, sleep being no exception. As an insomniac, I have to sleep in a darkened room, with no light extending through the window. Shutters down, curtains drawn to prevent a single ray of light hitting the bedroom wall. Silence is a must; doors and windows closed, to shut out any possibility of waking; normally no bad thing, but during these humid nights, making it practically impossible for me, let alone Darrell to sleep. Dozing in a sweat box, with only an old rusty fan to keep one company, blaring in ones face for the duration, isn't conducive to a good nights sleep, especially when the fans front fascia, protecting fingers and toes from the blades, keeps falling off, crashing on the marble floor twenty or so times a night.

So why not open the window or balcony door? I hear you ask! That's a simple one to answer; the Spanish wildlife! In Britain you are awoken gently by the dawn chorus; birds tweeting in the day; in fact the alarm on my phone, has a variety of British birds squawking ever louder. A relaxing, non stressful introduction to the day ahead! In Spain the crickets noisily whistle all night and day. It was a sound I used to love when I holidayed on the med in the past, an annoying tone akin to white noise now. An open window or door risks the intrusion of a cricket, that can never be found. The screeching unmistakable, their whereabouts impossible to determine. Keeping these little wonders of nature out of the house is a must!

Not only do we suffer the ravages of crickets, but we have a number of other obstacles to contend with; a ravenous mosquito population, the clicking cockroaches, the lizards, spiders as big as your hand, Palm beetles and drunken holiday makers returning from the bars; living in Spain, on the edge of a crevasse, picturesque or not, does have its downsides. All entry points for the roaches are now blocked, the windows covered in fly screens; so far all working well and I have not yet seen another threatening menace greeting me on the bedroom floor.

I have been an insomniac for as long as I can remember, up until I came to Spain, I took a number of sleeping pills, just to feel somnolent, let alone narcoleptic. Needless to say, like so may things in my life, they eventually stopped working and just made my lack of sleep worse. Taking four hours to eventually tire each night is not normal; living in Spain, has just made me more tired than ever. Laying on a bed worrying, thinking and procrastinating about my new life; fretting about not being able to sleep, making me agonize ever more; a chink of light through the curtain, unruly wildlife and a husband who remains incompatible in the bedroom, in the sleeping sense, just makes for many more wakeful, restless hours.

There is an upside to all this; I am not moaning for the sake of it; I enjoy my sleepless nights somewhat; a little less than I did, but it is my favourite time, the period when I do and think the most. In creative terms, insomnia produces great expression of thought; my overactive mind, working ever harder to record my dreams and recollections from the day. I have always worked best in the dark, inspiration built from the light of the moon. Although I sleep little, I rest enough to recharge and reset, what more can I ask for. Too much sleep is bad for the soul!

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