Every once in a while, as a library assistant, I come across some fun random information. Like yesterday, for example.
While proofreading a slide presentation for the head librarian, I found an infographic about the sleep habits of famous writers. It correlated the hour they habitually woke up, based on interviews and biographies, with their literary output and the awards they won. Honoré de Balzac apparently awoke at an insane 1 a.m. (when did he go to bed?), followed by Haruki Murakami and Sylvia Plath at 4 a.m. An hour later Toni Morrison, Oliver Sacks, Benjamin Franklin, Margaret Mead and Immanuel Kant all began their days.
At the other end of the spectrum, Charles Bukowski didn't roll out of bed until noon, with F. Scott Fitzgerald only slightly earlier at 11 a.m. William S. Burroughs professed to wake up at 9:30 a.m., but I'd be surprised.
The early birds do seem to have more major awards, but there doesn't seem to be a huge impact on productivity, from what I can tell. The most productive writers in terms of quantity -- Isaac Asimov (6 a.m.), Stephen King (8 a.m.) and Ray Bradbury (9 a.m.) were all more in the middle of the pack.
Anyway the infographic is here, if you're interested. I found it intriguing. Everyone assumes that early risers get more done, and I definitely value my early-morning writing time, when the house is more or less quiet and I can concentrate before I begin the day. But everyone has a different system. Whatever works, right?
I met with my British tax advisor last night, and I now more or less understand the whys and wherefores of my tax bill. I still have to figure out how best to pay it, but the good news is that, as I expected, this year will be an outlier in terms of how much I pay because of the settling of my mom's estate. Next year ought to cost me less (but it will still cost me). As I always say, taxes are the price we pay to live in a civilized society, so I can't complain too much.
I did indulge in a glass of wine during that conversation, though. If I was going to give up an hour of my evening staring at columns of figures, then by golly I was going to enjoy it.
The temperatures this morning are slightly warmer than yesterday -- 34º F (or 1.1º C) when I woke up, so not quite freezing. There may be more rain or wet snow ("wintry mix," as they say in New York) this morning, but after that nighttime temperatures are back in the 40s F, so I think I'll uncover the avocado this evening.
Dave thinks it's insane to keep covering and uncovering plants, or to keep bringing them in and putting them out again, but to me it's perfectly normal during the winter. For example, he thinks we should keep the avocado covered all winter, but that seems crazy to me. I might keep the geraniums inside and maybe the citrus, but I think the shroud has to come off the avocado until the next freeze.
(Photos: Autumnal garden scenes -- a maple leaf on hydrangea, a rhododendron bud and dry teasels.)
Non gardeners don't understand gardeners and vice versa !
ReplyDeleteI like the teasel photo
Ha! That's true. Dave actually is a gardener, but he comes from Michigan, where everything outside dies back and that's that. There's no covering and uncovering because it gets way too cold.
DeleteHaving risen early throughout my working life, I now much prefer to go to bed late and get up late... average 8.45am. I have always been a night owl and work militated against that natural urge. However, I am not in Charles Bukowski's league.
ReplyDeleteInteresting that you became a teacher, being a night owl! I've always been an early riser and expect I will be even after I retire.
DeleteI used to be my most creative in the middle of the night. I would often see a shadow and get up and draw it or create something else. That only worked when I was single. Now I’m an early-ish riser with no awards, yet, to show for it. Stunning photos (once again).
ReplyDeleteI dare say that maybe the wine made it easier to understand taxes, or maybe that's just me?
ReplyDeleteAt least it made me FEEL like I was understanding them!
DeleteWintry mix makes me think of nuts and seeds flying through the air, like trail mix.
ReplyDeleteThe 9-5 world is hell on people like me whose best work time is late afternoon to evening, all the energy and ideas.
I always imagined that when I was retired, I would sleep in and start the day whenever I felt like it. I have found that I wake up earlier than ever and am often up before 6:30 am.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dave that you should keep the avocado covered as you will have more stem/leaf breakage getting the cover on and off. The cover looks like sunlight can seep through so why bother taking it off?
Sunlight can get through (more or less) but I'm not sure about moisture. I've already taken it off but as we get deeper into winter it will no doubt stay on for longer periods. This is all an experiment! It's lightweight enough that there's no breakage. (At least not so far.)
DeleteGrowing up on a farm without a television, it often met early mornings. Then later when my kids were younger, I switched to staying up later in the evenings since my kids were early risers. This allowed me several hours of peace after they were tucked into bed. Now they are a mixed bag, one sleeps in and one does not. I have gone back to my early rising ways though I don't get much alone time anymore. That now comes in the form of a girls shopping trip and I stay home.
ReplyDeleteI need that early morning alone time! I can't handle people talking to me first thing.
DeleteAs I turned out my light last night I had the thought that a day when I hadn't had to set an alarm the night before was a good day.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what time Charles Bukowski started actually writing? Did you know I saw him read once? And pee in a parking lot? Tallahassee used to be a pretty wild place in the artistic sense. Now it's just an insane place in the political sense.
I swear- I am going to shop for plant coverings today! Yes! I am!
Ha! Seeing Charles Bukowski pee in a parking lot is definitely a brush with fame. LOL!
DeleteI'm the same as YP - if I was allowed to go with my natural body clock I'd be a second shift worker. Mornings are a STRUGGLE around here!
ReplyDeleteI have never been a night owl. I do not like staying up late and never have.
DeleteYou can cover another issue about writers and that is that some of them wee very eccentric.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely! Balzac must have been eccentric to rise at 1 a.m.!
DeleteRising early to enjoy the quiet is part of my routine too. Sometimes, I like going outside early to enjoy the morning air.
ReplyDeleteProtecting plants from cold weather (or in my case deer) is a big job. You'd have to put the avocado tree pot on a platform with wheels to roll it inside.
I lost all my rhododendrons to the deer. Like you, I tried protecting them with deer netting. The netting is a nightmare to work with and some deer even chewed through it.
Even having it on wheels won't help now because it's too tall for the ceilings! Yes, I'm thankful I don't have to deal with hungry wildlife (aside from slugs).
DeleteThe dry teasel picture is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I walk past a public building - school, library, pool, kindergarten and of course all the bus stops - I tell myself that my taxes helped build it.
Well, that's the flip side, absolutely. They do help support our civil society!
Deletewell, I agree about the avocado. keeping it covered when it needs air and light would not be good for it. I only cover my outdoor plants when night time temperature require it and uncover them when it warms up.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's how I learned to do it, too. In fact I specifically remember reading in gardening columns that plants should not be kept covered. (Particularly if they're covered with plastic, which some people used to do. I think now most people have moved away from that.)
DeleteEvery now and then, I have one of those nights when I wake up at 2 and can't go back to sleep for a couple of hours then when I do go back to sleep, I sleep until 10 or 11. Then I always feel guilty about it.
ReplyDeleteTaxes are important to our society but it doesn't make it any less painful to have to pay a big chunk all at once.
I wonder if that's a more biologically suitable sleep cycle, though? I once read that in the days before electricity, people would go to bed early and then awaken for a few hours in the middle of the night before going back to bed. They called it "first sleep" and "second sleep."
Deletehttps://www.news-medical.net/news/20170517/History-of-sleep-what-was-normal.aspx
Somehow it doesn't seem right that you have to pay British taxes on a family inheritance from a citizen of another country. But I guess that England's tax policies simply view it as income regardless of source...............alas.
ReplyDeleteWell, we are struggling with that question, and it is not an easy one. Especially since we're not citizens here.
DeleteThat's chilly! I drag my cyclamen into the garage when it's going to be cold. I cover them sometimes too but when they're in damp soil, I think they need air and whatever miniscule sun we get this time of year. I'm glad your taxes are figured out. I do dread this upcoming time of year.
ReplyDeleteSome cyclamens are cold-hardy and some are not. We have some planted out in the garden that simply stay out all winter, but I've lost others (a slightly different type) to frost.
DeleteI rarely set an alarm and tend to wake with the sun... so fairly early. I feel my best physically in the morning, but it's not always my most productive time. It's nice when we can allow our bodies to be on the schedule that works best for us.
ReplyDeleteI don't set an alarm either. (Unless you count Olga!)
DeleteI knew Sylvia Plath got up at 4. She had to write before her children woke up. She was probably exhausted all the time. F. Scott wasn't the most prolific writer, except when it came to letters.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Yeah, I can't imagine being a young, single mother and rising early to write before caring for kids all day. Good Lord.
DeleteWe had 34 here too but C not F. I like the maple leaf on the hydrangea. I know nothing about avocado trees, but it does seem like a lot of extra work to keep covering and uncovering. Ask your local nursery for advice?
ReplyDeleteWow, 34º C is pretty warm, isn't it?! I guess you are at that time of year!
DeleteI see Dave's point but I would probably do the same as you. In fact, I do with my few moveable plants! And your climate tends to be more gentle than ours overall. At least in the winter. Since getting back from UK and then our time fallback, I've been waking much earlier. I do get stuff done -- well, mostly computer stuff, since I can't imagine doing anything major at that time of day!
ReplyDeleteYeah, where you live I imagine it would be hard to uncover plants or put them outside at any point during the winter. I think that's why Dave feels the way he does. He doesn't see the point.
DeleteBetween 8 and 8:30 for me, generally speaking. I'm trying to reset that clock by going to bed earlier, but then I get sidetracked and it's 11PM and then....
ReplyDeleteThat avocado is under a bit of an over hang from the balcony above, am I correct? If it is, is there any way to rig the cover from the balcony and just raise and lower it as opposed to covering and recovering the plant? It seems like it would be faster.
Of course, touching the bottom of the Russians' balcony might start a skirmish with them.
We could attach it to the eaves below the gutters, but yeah -- I feel like that would invite trouble with the persnickety neighbors. (What's Russian for "persnickety," I wonder?) It would allow heat from the wall and the windows to get to the plant, though, which would be a plus. Something to think about!
Delete6 hours seems like a full night of sleep to me as it always has. Even though now I am aging. I'm going to worry less about getting up at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning now that I see I'm not alone. And I just had a poem accepted for publication so maybe there's something to this after all LOL Aloha friend!
ReplyDelete