Sleeplessness started at 1:33am.
It was not at night of worry, nor of restlessness. It was a gift of reflection and renewal.
I lay quietly in bed. Yes, the mind worked overtime to offer distractions. Sometimes I listen and get up and go to my home office to write. Often pretty good material gets written. But tonight I don't this. I lay, thinking, reviewing, pondering. About 3:00am, I decide to get out of bed. I dress and head toward a room located at the far end of our house—the carport that I remodeled twelve-years-ago to be my home office. Four steps down to the garage to negotiate—it's pitch dark; I don't attempt this without light. I flicked the switch for the ceiling light.
I walked into the office to the desk at the far end of a narrow long room, turned on a light and plugged in my laptop. I was still standing near my desk when I heard the office door open. It was my son, James. He came to get a bottle of cold water that we keep in our refrigerator in the garage. “Did I wake you?” I walked to the door and said, “No, I just now came here to do a little work.” We talked only a short while; he wanted to get to bed. And I was not really in the mood to sit and chat. After he left I returned to my desk. I was determined not to get side-tracked, but I succumbed when I checked emails and Facebook.
A friend wrote something about a photo I had posted to Facebook that I called “The Wannabe Author.” She wondered where the cigar was. I replied: “Yikes! I hadn't thought of that! A cigar hasn't touched my lips in many a year - forty, maybe fifty! Back in the late 1960s, I had a horrible case of bronchitis; when I started to feel healthy, I picked up a pack of cigarettes I had laying around and lit one. I started coughing and immediately stopped smoking and have never lit another since, including cigars and pipes. Nope: no cigars for this old man.”
After completing this, I did not write more. Yesterday I received an email from a friend that had an article about a group that is going on a cruise in late August. I was curious enough to investigate the information provided. I've never been on a cruise ship and the idea seemed intriguing enough to have a look. I didn't get far in my research. When I saw the high prices involved, I stopped and shut off the computer and the light on my desk.
It was now getting on to 4:00 o'clock. I felt tired and made the return trip back to the bedroom.
It wasn't long after I crawled back to bed that the beginnings of a wonderful summer rainstorm rolled into our city. The storm started with with distant rumbles. They were soft rumbles and I did not identify the sounds as thunder. I saw no lightning.
Slowly, the thunder grew louder, and with this dim flashes of light came also. This I saw while relaxing in bed.
An hour passed. The full storm finally arrived just before 5am. A gentle rain came first, but this quickly increased, so much so that I had to get up to close our bedroom window.
The storm grew fast. Rain slashed against our windows, lightning and thunder shook the house. Deep rumbles roared through the hills like an ancient warrior showing his muscles and shouting threats. I lay wide awake and smile. I was thoroughly enjoying the sky-earth show. The thunder and rainstorm vigorously cleansed the atmosphere and earth. It also cleansed my spirit.
The clock signaled 5:30am. The storm passed along; it was done where I lay in bed. Calm-silence arrived, and I drifted into dreamland.
Several hours later I woke and immediately wondered: Was this a dream, or did it happen as I wrote it here?
I looked and saw that our bedroom window was closed. Someone pulled it shut. Was that someone me? I know the answer.
I feel happily content. I feel cleansed—refreshed by the evening experience. Thank you, wind, rain, lightning and thunder for your timely visit.