Sleep has been hard these last few weeks. Falling asleep being easy enough, but it’s the stay asleep that’s been the trouble. Unbroken… Not much beyond two hours at a time. Not sure if it was me crashing with weeks of that or me fighting a spring flu… Or a combination of the two… But I’m off two full and the better part of a third day from work this week. By lunch time Wednesday I’m feeling more myself. And I get some sustained sleep this weekend. But I am left wondering if I’m the only person at the office who does better, from a rest perspective, working the twelve hour shift rotating from days to nights.
A frustrating week of the Blue Jays. 2 wins, 4 loses wasn’t the start to hope for. And the way they lost those games is kind of painful. But baseball is a long season. It would be like panicking that a hockey team starts the year losing two of their first three games. Or that a football team is down at the half of their first game. Either way, it’s nice to be able to watch baseball again.
Where Do They Come From?
Where do they all come from? That is to say… The insects. It’s the time of year where the house gets some crawly visitors. In the last two weeks I’ve rid myself of four or five spiders, a beetle, and a wasp. And today there’s a house fly hanging out on my computer room window, watching the world go by.
So, the spiders… I can understand them. They’ve likely been hanging around all winter in crevices or dark corners anyway. There’s that saying that you’re never more than ten feet away from a spider. Not sure if it’s true or not, but I’d believe it if it’s true.
But the rest of them? I suppose a fly could have just followed me in one day when I got home from work. They seem to go about fairly unnoticed. And I don’t even mind my window friend. He’s a sign of spring. He’s like a seagull for sailors praying for land. You may not see it yet… But land is close by. You’re out there spring… You’re close.
The wasp is a bit freaky. I come home from work one day and go to my bedroom and there he is, hanging out on the window there.
Where a fly is a window friend, hinting at warm and sunny days, a wasp is a window demon, hinting at the apocalypse. I mean, you notice if a wasp follows you into the house. In fact, you notice the wasp well before getting to the door. You either freeze… And edge slowly towards the door… No sudden movements… Or… You run for it.
The alternative is no better. Perhaps the wasp was in the house all winter. Perhaps there’s more of them. A nest within my walls and this is the first of thousands that found a crack to freedom… In my bedroom.
I gather my wits about me… Go to the porch to retrieve my insect catcher… And return to, without hesitation (they can smell fear), capture the wasp within the plastic compartment.
The walk to my patio door is that of a bomb squad member carrying high explosives. Arms straight out in front of me, watching each step. Don’t trip… Don’t stumble… Steady… Steady.
And once at the door, I treat it like a blast shield. Opening the door just enough to slip the insect compartment outside. Edging it out as far as the eighteen inch stick it’s attached to will allow. I then close the door as far as I can while still holding the device. Still thinking to myself… Steady… Steady.
Once in position, a deep breath, and I rotate the stick clockwise… Causing the trap door to fall.
The wasp lazily buzzes off into my yard. It seems bored and unimpressed.
I, on the other hand, open the door the extra few inches to allow my capturing device to re-enter the house before closing the door tight with the urgency of a snorkeler leaping into a boat mere inches from the teeth of a stalking Great White. I sigh with relief and pray that the walled nest thought is nothing more than an overactive imagination.
No wonder I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately. Perhaps I’ve been blocking out terror filled dreams of wasps creeping out from some unknown crack behind a bookcase. Or perhaps they explore me as I sleep. And the tickle of wasp legs draws me from my dreams… As I drowsily rub that unknown itch against my ear.
So yes… Where do they come from? And will I find any sleep at all tonight.
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