Falling Asleep

For eleven years, I lived in apartments. Noisy, tenant-filled apartment buildings. Television, music, and parties kept me up. I used all sorts of tricks to help me sleep at night. I bought a white noise maker with several sounds from nature, such as waterfalls and waves washing up on shore. I soon detected how these recorded sounds repeated over and over again, so instead of soothing me to sleep the recordings drove me crazy as I listened to the same pattern of rain drops on the window sill. I tried turning on a fan, but that constant whir kept me awake instead of lulling me to sleep. I finally settled on some new age music. My CD player had a timer and so I could go to sleep listening to music.

Then I got married and moved into my new husband’s condo. Now we had noise from the strip mall alley below us and light from the parking lot and busy street in front of the mall. Ed didn’t have curtains or blinds in his third story bedroom, so I got used to the noise and the light.

I still remember the first night we slept in our new suburban house. It was dark and very quiet at night. It was perfect.

Even now, almost 10 years later, when I crawl into bed I am grateful for the dark and quiet that lulls me to sleep every night…the sleep I get after I creep down the stairs to write down my thoughts on my blog.

Good night!

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5 Replies to “Falling Asleep”

  1. Oh I hear you! I have rung hotels in advance asking them to change my room to a quiet room at the back. The guests didn't know what room they had anyway, so they weren't bothered either way!
    I live in a quiet area now, although if I have to work late and try to sleep in, I will be woken by school sounds: children playing in the playground for over an hour! Soon I will be living to the country. Where there aren't that many street lights, but there will be the noise of the countryside. Sheep, birds (like seagulls), tractors, wind and rain and possibly even the sea. Sooo looking forward to that!
    My recent post Haraldshaugen

  2. I've always had trouble falling asleep. Reading usually helps, but I do have to take medication to help me sleep. Part of the problem is that my anti-depressants give me energy, but throughout the day, not like drinking Red Bull or anything like that.

    The short story I'm currently working on is about a boy, now 18, who wants to escape his hometown in Missouri because the silence is too loud!
    My recent post My Week in Review: April 19 – 26, 2013

  3. We actually sleep with a sound machine on white noise. I can't handle the other sounds but white noise is okay. We started that years ago when our children were of age to be out late and it would keep the dogs from waking us up in the middle of the night when they came through the door!

  4. Oh, yes! I went from terrible college roommates (and I mean terrible) to adult roommates who acted like college kids still. I did get a nice break living with my sister for a year until I moved to San Francisco in a sandwiched apartment right near Golden Gate Park with my then boyfriend. (now my husband) It was bad. Right now we live on four acres of land with no visible neighbors. Occasionally our house is lit by a full moon or we hear coyotes in the night. Still, sometimes I wake up surprised at the silence. I was a bit traumatized by apartments.
    My recent post I Took a Breather.

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