Thursday, March 08, 2012

Wet Pillow

I awoke at 3 a.m. to the sound of Caillou barking. He's the youngest dog in the pack and the best watch dog on the hill. He sleeps with his head sticking through the doggie door listening and watching. I've gotten up for water in the past, and looked out the garden door in the back to see him pacing the fence line listening, and watching. 
When he barks, there's usually something going on outside. The moon was almost full this morning and when I looked outside toward the road, I could see the shadow of someone walking slowly up the road the glowing ember of a cigarette bobbing along beside them like a lightening bug.
We live in a RURAL area and you don't often see "regular" people walking the roads at 3 a.m. When people do walk at that hour, I suspect they are up to no good.
That's one reason that most people around here don't keep their dogs fences. Most of my neighbors agree with me thinking that when you walk the road at that hour, you're begging to get mauled by a mutt. My neighbors own every kind of dog from shitzus to pitt bulls. One has a great dane that's almost big enough to look into my truck window when I drive by. He seems to be saying "move along buster, there's nothing to see here."
This morning I considered putting Astro out the front door to make things interesting for the stroller. The reason we built a fence in the first place was because he made a sport of menacing people walking up and down the roads late at night.  But I thought better of it, and so when the stroller walked out of sight, I laid back down hoping to fall asleep.
I should have stayed up because I tossed and turned until 5 a.m. It would have been much more productive for me to log onto my computer and catch up on reading the entries of my blog buddies.
After two hours of mental reruns, I finally forced myself to breath deeply and to dismiss random mental clips before the opening credits. Soon I was sleeping.
It's a mystery to me why some nights I sleep so soundly I slobber on my pillow, and other nights it's as if I'm expecting Charles Manson and his merry pranksters to show up at my house and carve their initials into our lifeless bodies with paring knives.
Maybe it's the moon. If it can move the tides, it's not that much of a stretch to think that it could affect our sleep patterns.
Anyhow, I hope tonight is better. I'd much rather wake up with a wet pillow.




11 comments:

  1. Beautifully written, as usual, Rick. Thank God for dogs.

    Love,
    Janie

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  2. I love dogs. I also love that someone else drools on their pillow when they're soundly asleep. My yoga instructor said that if you tap your feet together it can signal your body to relax and sleep. I've not tried it because then it would wake up my husband. I wonder if Jilda has ever heard that?
    Also, thanks for your comments on my blog:

    "I'd be willing to bet that if you got most level headed Americans together to talk about issues that are most important to them, there wouldn't be a great distance between them, whether they are liberal or conservative."

    I couldn't agree more.

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  3. It's the "what if's" that spook us when things like that happen. Wonder what that guy was doing????

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  4. You must have such a quiet lovely one, and I would love to meet sour dog too :)

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  5. Anonymous12:53 AM

    happy it wasn't trouble walking past your place! and thank goodness for dogs who patrol and bark...bless them!

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  6. Thanks Janie.
    @Karen Jilda said that she did know about the foot tapping and she uses that technique sometimes. I knew she moved her feet but I didn't know why. Interesting.
    @ Sweet tea I'm not sure what he was up to but If I see him lurking around again, I'm calling the sherriff.
    @Claudia he's a sweet dog but he doesn't like intruders.
    @Theanne we do love our critters.

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  7. A great read!!! I'm smiling from ear to ear.

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  8. well, you know, we are 98% water.

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  9. Collie's are awesome at alerting you to someone or something that shouldn't be there. My Alex was a watch dog like no other. Sorry you didn't sleep well. I don't sleep well most nights so I know it can be a nuisance. Sleep well tonight my friend.

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  10. I do believe the moon affects our moods. My daughter worked in a nursing home and the patients were very agitated every full moon.

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  11. I'm like you, there's no rhyme or reason to my sleeping pattern. I never know whether I'm going to sleep for four hours or eight :-)

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