Jennyarn

I used to be different. And now? Now I am different!

I used to sleep a great deal. Even as a child, I would sleep as much as I possibly could. Being awake did not hold much appeal. A little woeful, perhaps, but there you have it.

Now I am not very good at sleeping. That probably has much to do with having so many cats. Precious little kitties make for precious little room on my bed.

And the cats do not all keep the same hours. So even if I do manage to squeeze my way under the covers and cats, tending to their needs requires that I don’t stay in one place for too long. They have me well-trained.

I am constantly worried about their safety. Most of the cats come indoors, and all of them go outdoors. It is just not feasible to keep them all indoors. The street has become more and more crowded with scary cars. I dream of having a caged-in backyard.

My sense of hearing has become acute. I think I may have bionic ears. I can hear little Annie, who has the faintest of meows, when she is on the roof or in a tree wanting help.

Thus, I am apt to become stuck on awake so that I can remain vigilant in the face of possible dangers to cats.

Beliefs have relevance to your state of mind, do they not? Let’s say someone fiddled with your alarm clock and somehow you thought you’d slept 8 hours when really you’d only slept 2 hours. Isn’t it possible you wouldn’t feel quite as tired as if you knew the actual amount? It’s not impossible!

Two hours is a long time for some activities like waiting in line or being at the dentist. It could even feel too long for something enjoyable like eating ice cream! This is my type of thinking when I’ve gone without sleep for way too long. Yay, I got two hours! That’s something. I’d like to think a positive attitude makes a difference.

Maybe I am like Sarah Winchester and my reluctance to sleep takes on a superstitious aspect. She would not allow for construction of her California mansion to let up. It continued 24 hours a day for 38 years! She may have believed that if the building stopped, so too would her life. That is one popular opinion. It sounds as good as any to me.

I was so very tired but I was seized by this idea that I should knit three hats. I didn’t think I would die if I didn’t knit the three hats. And yet I do operate under some superstitious type of spell that gets hold of me sometimes…like when I haven’t slept in ages! Sometimes I even knit with only one eye open so that the other may rest!

I would knit the Amanda hat, the Foliage hat, and the Banana Republic knock-off hat! And yet I could barely manage to see straight let alone follow a pattern. I would get through a couple rounds only to discover I’d made errors. I’m all for circular knitting but this is ridiculous: a hour passes and I’m back to square one!

Elizabeth Zimmerman, whose writings I greatly admire, advises not to knit when you have energy. I thought that made good sense; knitting doesn’t require much energy while activities like cleaning and cat herding do!

Except it occurs to me that being dead tired is different than having low energy. I should strongly consider succumbing to the obvious and sleep. Otherwise I don’t really get anything accomplished, least of all the knitting of three hats!