Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Dead Sleep and Morning Sleep


It's funny how every deciduous tree has its own method of turning color in the fall. Sometimes the leaves yellow from the outer edge. Sometimes they turn almost uniformly. And sometimes, as in this case, they change color in the center while maintaining patches and an outer fringe of green.

We're back in the trenches at work, after our weeklong break for a two-day vacation, a professional development day and two parent conference days. The kids were absent for all of that, but now they've returned, the little monsters angels. And I'm back at my desk, shelf-weeding suspended for the moment.

I've joined the health plan at work, something I never bothered to do when we moved here because I had the NHS to take care of me. But I've since realized that it can be faster to do certain medical procedures privately, so I now have insurance too. (Yes, it's emblematic of our unjust world that I am doubly insured when lots of people can't even get coverage. It's outrageous, honestly.) At least it saves the NHS some money if I pay for things myself via insurance.

A fringe benefit of our insurance plan is that we get "free" movie tickets every month or quarter or something. (I say "free," in quotes, because obviously we're paying for 'em somehow.) So maybe Dave and I will be going back to the theater now and then. I can't remember the last movie we saw at a cinema. It may have been "Rogue One" last December.

I read an interesting New Yorker article about sleep. Did you know that historically, humans didn't expect to sleep straight through the night, the way we do now? They saw sleep as periods of slumber broken by intermittent wakefulness -- "dead sleep" and then "morning sleep," with a bit of time in between. I thought that was pretty interesting. We're so concerned with getting a "good night's sleep," but apparently that doesn't need to mean unbroken sleep all night. I find that I often wake around 2:30 or so, enough to become aware and occasionally to get up for a drink of water or a quick walk through the flat -- to check things out and take random pictures of the houseplants -- and then I go back to sleep. I guess that's a fairly natural sleep rhythm.

(I'm joking about the houseplants. I only did that once!)

11 comments:

Yorkshire Pudding said...

I wonder how long rough sleepers get to sleep at night? With discomfort, potential danger, cold and noise I guess they only sleep in short snatches at a time. Over a long period they must start to feel like zombies.

Vivian said...

I stopped taking sleeping tablets nine months ago and now I often wake up in the middle of the night, only I don't see it as a problem, the way it used to be a problem that led me to seek out a prescription for a sleep aid the first place. Now I think, big deal, I'm awake, who knows for how long. Sometimes it's ten minutes, sometimes it's the rest of the night. I have a whole new relationship with the wee hours.

Ms. Moon said...

Why does your insurance give you movie tickets? For better mental health?
Well, nice gesture.
Yes, Hank told me about the sleep thing- that folks used to sleep for awhile, get up, go see who was hanging out, have a chat, maybe a bite to eat, eventually drift back to bed.

Linda d said...

I haven't slept through the night but a few times in the last 4 years. For awhile it made me crazy but now I just roll with the flow. The less I think about it the more relaxed I am getting into bed at night. It'll all work out.

ellen abbott said...

Yeah, I read about that too. basically two sets of four hour sleeps. apparently in Victorian times they would even get up, get dressed and go out or couples would use that time to talk about household things or the kids.I usually always awake for a couple of hours every night. used to wake at 3 on the dot like clockwork. now it varies between 2 and 4. it's a rare night I sleep all the way through.

Sharon said...

That's almost exactly the same time I wake up most nights and most of the time, I go back to sleep but every now and then I simply can't get the sleep come back.
That double insurance sounds like a good idea to me. Why on earth can't we come up with a plan like that?

Catalyst said...

I'm a bit concerned about the term "dead sleep". But apparently it is the same as "deep sleep".

Anonymous said...

I don't think I've ever slept through the night, even when I was young. My dad went to work at 3:00 am every workday morning. I woke every night to kiss him good bye when he walked out the door, and then I would run to the window and watch him drive away into the night. Now when I sleep 4 hours straight I feel like I can say, "I've had a good night's sleep."
I can't imagine what it might be like to have good health insurance. I'm on medicare now, but I know so many people who are struggling here trying to figure out how to stay insured. It's such a bummer. To think of people there not having to worry about health care seems so civilized.

Elizabeth said...

With my daughter Sophie and her erratic sleep, I don't think I've slept through the night in more than twenty years unless I'm away. I try not to feel anxious when I do wake -- the hours between 4 am and dawn, though, are difficult ones for me when my darkest thoughts and feelings emerge.

I love the leaves -- I'm leaving for a couple of nights to see the fall color in the mountains about four hours from Los Angeles. I'll be sleeping through the night, too!

jenny_o said...

Well, I'm glad to read that article, because my sleep is usually in two parts, too, and I read somewhere else recently (and of course can't find it now) that you NEED all your sleep at once and I was feeling badly about that!!

37paddington said...

I’m amazed at how many commenters here have the same sleep pattern as me. It doesn’t worry me now that I work from home and set my own hours but when I had to be up and out early for an office job those wakeful wee hours would make me so anxious, staring into the dark, trying to snatch back sleep.