LEONARD GRAY

Sleep – precious and rare pleasure Mornings are tough for me, sometimes. In this profession, my hours are somewhat flexible, to say the least, which means my sleeping habits are hardly habits at all. If I have a habit, it is very little sleep. I tend to get to bed around 11 p.m. and wake up at 5 a.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays, 5:30 a.m. on the other weekdays, and on weekends, I may get lazy and stay in bed as long as 7:30 a.m., unless my wife has an idea for me. Sleep is something very precious to me, though my wife may say otherwise. I’m in a job where sleep is valued, since I work long hours. At the same time, I’m a night owl. I love working at night, driving at night, watching television late at night and surfing the internet late at night. But, oh!, I love to sleep. Even when I have dreams about work (and I do dream about work pretty often), I enjoy the feel of the mattress and the pillow under my head and the covers over my shoulders. I have sleep down to a talent now. It has always irked my wife when she sees how easily I drop off into sleep. Many times, I have literally placed my head on the pillow, positioned my arms and legs just so, and been asleep in moments. And, what’s more, I can apparently sleep anywhere. When she and I were dating and before I had a car, we would come down from LSU on the bus and sometimes I would fall sleep on her shoulder. Even now, at home, I can sit on the couch and no matter how loud the television is or how many people are in the room, I can fall asleep in a few moments. Before anyone starts thinking narcolepsy, I sleep deeply and well. It’s one of my favorite family stories that I take after my grandfather who, during Hurricane Camille, walked to a guard shack and went to sleep while the storm of the century literally raged over his head. Back at home, my grandmother, several aunts, uncles and cousins (at least two dozen people) gathered, terrified, and waited for certain destruction. I was there, sneaking out to the back porch to watch the tree limbs blown by the house. Papa went to sleep. I loved him for that. However, my wife gets almost angry at how quickly and easily I go to sleep, since she usually takes a couple of hours to go to sleep, and almost every night will get up at least once and more likely, twice. I generally sleep through the night, unless I’m sick or unusually stressed. I remember when I had a bout of strep throat, one thing which made me suffer most was the fact I couldn’t get any kind of restful sleep. As I said, I love sleep. Sleep does a body good. LEONARD GRAY is assistant managing editor for L’Observateur.