I wanted to get a good night sleep, because I had a busy day planned. Lately most of my days are relatively relaxed. I no longer log or deliver papers, and I haven published a book in years. All I do for ïrk4hese days, aside from selling a few of my books, is write this column and play music; but today I have several errands and projects scheduled, including preparations for painting the house and installing air conditioning, as well as writing this column. So, I wanted a good night's sleep . . . but as Mick Jagger once sang, you can't always get what you want. I went to bed at midnight, as usual. Sleeping from midnight until 6:30, along with a 30-minute nap after lunch, suits me just fine. My wife typically goes to bed at 9 p.m. She almost always sound asleep when I come to bed, but last night she was extremely fidgety, tossing, turning and muttering. Eventually I said, "Honey, I got to go sleep in the loft."
The loft was my bedroom decades ago, before two additions expanded our home. Now the loft is our guest room. Occasionally, maybe once or twice a year, either Robin or I might sleep up there, if the other is contagiously ill. Our Brittany spaniel, Britt, sleeps in a crate at the bottom of the loft staircase. As I tried to fall asleep, I kept hearing Britt stirring restlessly in her crate. She usually sleeps soundly all night, but last night she was unsettled enough to prevent me from drifting into slumber. After an hour of this, I decided to move back to our bedroom. Robin had fallen asleep, but insomnia continued to haunt me as Britt whimpered loud enough for me to hear from the bedroom. I got up to see what was the matter with her. I let her outside for a few minutes. She ran around the lawn and peed. Figuring that this must have cured the problem, I put her back in her crate, then I turned on a fan for covering noise and closed the bedroom door to block any sounds from Britt. This enabled me to finally fall asleep.
While I slept, Britt puked in her crate, a disgusting brown vomit that smelled like dog poo. I threw her outside and began an extensive cleanup. I bet I, sleep well tonight!

Have a story?