Sweet Dreams

I've been asleep for twenty years! No wait, I mean it. If I've slept about 8 hours per day over my lifetime, then I've been asleep for 20 years, because I'm 60. 1/3 of my life. No wonder my mattresses have worn out.

Of course, there's this too. I've actually been awake for only forty years, so from now on when people want to know how old I am, I'll simply say I've been walking around this earth for 40 years, and leave it at that. They can think what they will. (Wait, they might look at me and think, "Egads, she's aged poorly.")

Why do we sleep anyway? And why do we wake up? Hey Moms, have you ever slept through a violent thunderstorm, but awakened at the sound of your baby softly crying? Clearly it's not the level of noise, but the need for us somehow. And where do we go when we're asleep? How on earth did I climb that mountain without boots on, and how did I fall off that cliff without dying? Dreams are amazing. Some dreams are so vivid, and wonderful ... even scary. So I guess my brain's still busy processing signals even when I'm "out." Clearly, it's not under my own control, or choice.

And how is it that some birds can migrate or fly for days on end without stopping to sleep, and some animals can hibernate or sleep for weeks without starving to death, but we humans tend to/have to keep a repeating 24 hours schedule? Except for babies and college students, of course. They're all insane.

I wish I knew where I went during my dreams. Or maybe it's best I not know. Might be too scary. For now I like my awake dreams the best. You know, the ones where I don't have cancer, I work all day without wearing out, I'm nice to everyone, that sort of thing. Dreams can make us wake up each day and desire to keep going. I do, I do desire to keep going, even when I must sleep 11 hours each night, I still have cancer, I act like a jerk, and my left thumb is so sore it would feel better to cut it off.

So, today I plan to not sleep anymore (till next time) and do this amazing thing: I'm going to plan and lay out exactly where to put my brand new GREENHOUSE that Steve bought for me yesterday. If I didn't know better, I'd think I'd already died and gone to heaven.