The View from a Drawbridge

Tag: sleep

  • My Late Night Symphony

    Have you ever been so tired that it felt like your mattress was hugging you? You sink into it’s soft embrace and feel a sweet relief like no other. It makes you wonder why you ever resisted bedtime as a child. This night was one of those nights. It had been a long day at…

  • Napsodizing

    You heard it here first. I just coined a term that means rhapsodizing about naps. And, oh, but I can. I genuinely can think of nothing as luxurious as being able to sleep in the middle of one’s day. It’s delightful. People who have to work hard cannot nap. People whose living situations are precarious…

  • My Unbirthday Plans

    According to Alice in Wonderland, if I’m not mistaken, any day that is not your birthday is your “unbirthday”, and is worthy of celebration. But that kind of sounds like work to me. So I pick the day that is 6 months away from my birthday, and celebrate that as my “official” unbirthday. On that…

  • Drawbridge FAQs

    So, there’s actually a person making the bridge open and close? Yep. I get that a lot. Nice to meet you. While there are some automated drawbridges out there (mostly railroad bridges in remote locations with little or no pedestrian traffic), the vast majority of drawbridges have a human operator. Safety is our primary concern,…

  • A Message from Beyond

    The other day I had a full blown meltdown, complete with an ugly, chest-heaving cry, the kind that leaves you with a splitting headache. This was due to home buying stress, mostly, and a lack of sleep, and a feeling of isolation. Sometimes the emotional plumbing gets backed up and requires a good plunge, you…

  • 21 Sleep Tricks

    I worked the graveyard shift for 13 years. I don’t recommend it. Your whole life begins to revolve around the desperate pursuit of sleep, and you turn into one of those people who curse your neighbors for mowing the lawn. It’s not a good look. When I think about how I used to cry as…

  • Dreaming of Whales Dreaming

    I have long been fascinated by that narrow borderland between consciousness and unconsciousness. It’s a surreal place indeed. The creativity there is something I could never duplicate in the waking world. Whenever I’m roused just as I try to make my way toward REM sleep, invariably the image that’s in my head at that moment…

  • The Pajama Radius

    At the monthly storytelling event that I attend I was introduced to a unit of measure that I didn’t know existed up to this point. It’s called the Pajama Radius. Basically, it’s how far you’re willing to go in your pajamas. I immediately rushed home and Googled it. Much to my amusement, it is, indeed,…

  • I’m Wide Awake, Here!

    I recently had a blind date with a guy, and when he discovered I was a bridgetender, he got this smirk on his face. I knew what was coming next. The stereotype. Few people even know we exist, but those who do seem to assume that we all sleep through our shifts. This assumption drives…

  • My Morning

    Last night I got off work at 11pm. I went straight home, and managed to squeeze in 5 hours of sleep before getting up at 5:45am in order to go back to work at 7am. Oh, but there’s more. I get out to my car, and all the windows are frosted over. It’s 32 degrees…