2:08 am. I have been tossing and turning for hours in bed, but sleep is elusive.
I couldn’t stand it anymore, so I finally got up and stood in front of the open window. For a change, a cool breeze is blowing from the field, caressing my hot face and soothing my spirit. It was dark and peaceful outside. I can see dim lights from my neighbors’ windows spilling into the street. I wonder if everyone is sleeping or if there is someone like me somewhere out there, trying to slip into the blessed oblivion of temporary relief from the hustle of just surviving everyday life. Will they succeed, or just wait for morning to break? Like me.
I have slept okay for weeks now. I’m surprised that the sandman missed me tonight when it’s a lot cooler than the miserable 39 degrees Celsius of blanketing heat that we have endured since the dry spell hit us. I should be comfortable and at peace since I don’t have to fret even in my sleep that the AC will cost me thousands of pesos in electric bill.
Maybe I’m just tired. Jaybee and I did the wash today. The washing machine broke down and hand-washing the dirty pile of clothes is inevitable. Unless I want to wait until they become a nightmare that will haunt me as I watch them become unmanageable. The big laundry basket is now empty, so that’s a load off my mind. I cleaned the carport, used a brush with a long handle to scrub the concrete floor after the wash was done. Like the klutz I am, I slipped and twisted my knee. I could feel something snapping like garter inside when I walk and a shooting pain from the middle of my leg up to my hip makes it almost impossible to walk. So I got that handy, battery foot massager that Thess bought for me and run it over my leg and around my knee. Something must be out of place, a strained muscle maybe because when I run the massager to just below my knee, a pain like an electric shock shoots up. I then kicked out several times and the last try, I felt multiple snaps, heard them too, and the pain was finally gone. The pins and needles on my foot were gone and my leg felt hot for a while. But I can walk without pain, so am I good or am I good?
Daylight is still far away. But I felt like I need a cup of coffee.
So I put the kettle on to boil some water and stared out of the big kitchen window. The street is dark, but there’s a post spilling a yellow circle of light to a limited area. The big, 3- storey house across from the vacant lot slumbers quietly like a gothic creature, a round window illuminated by a red light from inside making it look like a malevolent eye, watching and planning to snare an innocent passerby. Maybe a blood-sucker resides there, maybe a mad scientist trying to bring back his dead wife back to life, maybe------ shoots, the whistling kettle made me jump a foot high. 
That was bad, making up horror stories when it’s so dark and quiet.
So what went wrong tonight? Why haven’t I fallen asleep at 11:00 pm as I usually do? Sigh, why do I have to find an explanation for something like not being able to sleep? I’m happy, I’m content, Steve will be home soon and my favorite boy just gave me an invitation to celebrate our birthdays together on Sunday.
Oh, maybe that’s it. Old age creeping in on me and leaving me sleepless. I’m adding another year to my age, but am I worried? Not me. Age is a state of mind, and I don’t have a mind. Ha-ha! Okay, that’s a joke in case you haven’t figured it out.
Somehow, another year of my life is gone, but I don’t see it like that. I see it as a period of fulfillment, a year when beautiful memories were built so that I can add them to my treasure chest that is already overflowing.
God is good. Life is good. Things couldn’t get any better than this, but I have a feeling they will.
