I promise not to spend the next four months complaining about the light. Entirely. I mean, I've done that for the last three years, right? Time for something new. Who wants to hear complaining? And, I realize those of you who haven't experienced White Nights might think it's amazingly cool. (I thought so before I moved here...even though I knew what a hard time I have further south in England in the summers, I still thought it would be a fun thing to experience.) I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm. And, truly, my Russian friends LOVE it. I'm just not assimilated. ;>
Two things before I abstain from light complaints. Entirely.
1. My cat, Beazy, now expects to be fed at 4 am because it's light. She becomes very affectionate and then very vocal. I, not wanting to reinforce this unwanted behaviour by feeding her, spend the following two hours arguing and reasoning with a cat: (surely that's a sign of sleep deprivation--cat arguing)
No, Beaze, it's not time to eat.
It's only 4:00.
Just because it's light doesn't mean it's morning.
I am not getting up. You are not eating.
No. NO.
I am not going to feed you so you might as well just stop.
Beaze, seriously--NO.
(Flails leg so cat jumps from bed. And returns.)
TWO hours. But I didn't give in...I also didn't sleep.
2. Sleeping with a mask on must make me lose all depth perception. I know this may not sound odd. Surely, with a mask on one has no depth perception.
The curious thing is that I start falling out of bed when I sleep with a mask on. Several times a night. Usually headfirst. Very. scary. feeling.
Does this mean that when I roll over I am actually opening my eyes unknowingly and I can't do that with the mask on or does it mean that there is some sort of sensor (maybe on my eyelids) that I'm blocking with the mask? Hmmm.... I know I can FEEL the sun out even with my eyes closed *and* my mask on... (I have no idea how that ties in, but just wanted you to have all the information possible before you made your hypothesis.)
7 comments:
poor you! i haven't fallen out of bed since i was a kid, and it's just a lousy experience. i'm so sorry.
how many windows does your bedroom have? you can get room darkening shades very cheap online. we just got one this spring for the girls' room. they were pretty much doing what beaz is doing. NOT an option!
Blackout drapes like people had during WWII.
holy crap - falling out of bed sounds horrible and very scary.
I'm with the other commenters - get the drapes if you can (you have probably already thought of this...)
Yes, I'd go with some kind of heavy window covering. I actually made curtains with a heavy, dark liner for my bedroom when I lived in Virginia, because I want it DARK when I sleep, and summer weekends it got light too early for my taste. Worked well--and it really helps with the kitties, too! I've only lived farther north since then--but always had a way to block the light.
I heard about a study on birds, to find out what it is that lets them know when it's time to sing. A horrible, savage study, really. They blinded the birds and painted their heads black, so no light could get in at all. IIRC, they determined it was light--not temperature or any other factor--that made the birds sing. I'm not sure if this ties in with your depth perception issue or not, but it's amazing what light, or the lack thereof, can do.
Possibly the most appropriate elephant sighting yet--a greeting card. On the outside, a picture of an elephant. On the inside, "Missing you."
Oh! Now I see what my problem was the other day. The message was, "URL contains illegal characters." I'm posting under the "Name/URL" option. Somehow, "optional" was filled in the URL blank. Once I deleted it and left the blank...blank...my comment posted! I need the FRUA emoticon where the little guy's knocking himself on the head!
I'm sending sleepy thoughts your way...I hope you're able to find a solution soon.
Sweet dreams!
I thought the light was cool for the first night in Alaska and I was over it real quick. Same goes for our Russia/Scandinavia trip. I don't know how you do it, I'd be a mess.
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