Rant #3,014: Sleep Walk

I finally had a good night’s sleep last night.
 
After an extremely busy Monday—every day of the week is busy lately—I passed out at about 8:30 p.m. and ended up getting up at about 5:30 a.m., so except for a few times when I briefly woke up during all of those hours, I pretty much was in dreamland for about nine hours.
 
It is something I needed, because I have not been sleeping very well lately.
 
I have never been much of a sleeper, even as a child, but I think it has gotten worse as I have gotten older.
 
Some people need a lot of sleep, but looking back on myself, I guess that I do not.
 
And yes, I have been tested in the past for sleep apnea, and I do not have it, so it is just that I am, historically, not much of a sleeper.
 
I can tell you that throughout my life, I have done a lot of thinking when I am supposed to be sleeping.
 
I have trouble shutting off my brain when I try to go to sleep, and the wheels are turning all the time.
 
It seems to have always been that way for me, as I guess that when my body is relaxed, my brain is still moving every which way.
 

I remember that even into my 30s, I could stay up all night and not feel too many ill effects from not sleeping.
 
And as a teenager, I used to stay up to all hours of the night, with absolutely no ill effects.
 
And as a kid, even though I did have a bedtime,, I never, ever fell right to sleep. I used to read my comic books in bed, play with my toys … did anything I could do to stay up until I couldn’t anymore.
 
And as a baby and toddler, there was a point that I would only sleep outside in the carriage, according to my mother. Once I got in the house, I am sure I kept my parents up all night because all I wanted to do was go outside and sleep.
 
I remember one incident that happened when I was a young teenager,, maybe 13 or so.
 
It was the summer, and I was in Rochdale Village Day Camp, the day camp that my community ran and that I was in for just about all my years living there.
 
We went on an overnight trip to a dude ranch, and it was probably the first time I was away from my parents.
 
I was with my friends the entire night, none of us slept, I had the time of my life.
 
In fact, although many of the campers slept on the trip back home, I was up and about while others had passed out, never sleeping a wink in the bus.
 
When we finally got home, I think I went to bed almost immediately, and I slept through the next day of camp—which was the last day—and in total, I must have slept about 18 hours straight, which remains my all-time personal sleep record.
 
But again I was about 13, and as I got older, I went in the exact opposite directing, sometimes not sleeping one wink from one day to the next.
 
Look, I am not saying that this is healthy.
 
People need their sleep at any age, and certainly, old codgers like myself need to sleep a good amount of hours to stay healthy.
 
I don’t have a sleep disorder, so this is simply the way I am, and the way that I will probably always be.
 
And no, I will never use a sleeping pill if I can help it.
 
That is sort of an artificial way to fall asleep, and sure, you use it one day and it helps you to fall asleep,, but what happens the next day when you can’t fall asleep?
 
And the next day?
 
You slowly become addicted to these things, and in my more than 65 years of being on this planet, I have never taken a sleeping pill.
 
The way I am with sleeping makes me enjoy a night like last night, when I basically passed out.
 
I wish I could have more nights like last night, but I guess it simply is not in the cards for me.
 
My father could sleep a whole day if you let him, and my grandfather—his father—could do the same thing.
 
My mother slept but she never was much of a long sleeper in her prime, so I probably take more after her when it comes to sleeping.
 
I will take a nap here and there when I can’t help myself, but no, I am not much of a sleeper, no matter how many sheep I try to count.
 
And who ever came up with that idea to get you to go to sleep anyway?
 
I don’t get it.
 
And I don’t get very much sleep either.