headlights and shadows
stillness in the historic house —
except the cat grooming
NOTES
I have what may be considered an unhealthy sleep pattern, although, I think somewhat healthily, the pattern is pretty regular. That is to say, I go to bed when I am tired, usually between 10:30 and 11:30pm, and I am able to fall asleep within a few minutes. However, I often am awakened by any number of things — cat noise, Fálki’s rustling, my need to pee — around 4:00am. Usually that’s the end of my sleep for the evening, because my mind starts thinking about whether my tax return is finished, what work I need to do that day, whether I have any creativity left in my soul — those kinds of things keep me awake. So I get up, because I am not one to stay in bed awake.
There are times, though, when I wake up for any of those same reasons at 1:00am or 2:00am or 3:00am or whenever. On this morning-night it is 2:15am.
I am in a historic home in Island Falls, Maine, the Sewall House, which is Fálki’s and my winter home (for now). The place should be a little spooky, because it was built in 1865 and Teddy Roosevelt stayed here somewhat often and people have surely died here. It’s not spooky at all, though. It’s peaceful.
There is a rural highway just south of the house, and the traffic driving by at night shines headlight through the windows. And sometimes the cat, Ivar, is grooming, which is at once annoying and comforting.