acacia blossoms

acacia blossoms

Sunday, July 26, 2009

insomniac

Insomnia. Lying there..thinking. looking out the window through the branches of the leadwood tree to a sky spangled with stars. "there are holes in the sky where the rain gets in, they are ever so small thats why rain is thin" (anon?) is that where starlight comes from too? oh dear...now where did i dredge that one up from - somewhere deep in the grey matter where it should probably stay.

sigh. The mind gets naughty - starts thinking of things i could be worrying about. What about this one? ha - it tries to push my buttons. Sometimes it works and i spin off on a trail of the worst case scenario. Mind has to be disciplined now - Stop That!! 

I was once in Wales and saw some sheep escaping from a field by jumping over the gate. Really.  We had to avert our eyes incase we started counting and fell asleep right there and then.

Ok try to meditate. A trick i learned from Holey Vision blogsite some time back.. picture a blue velvet wall and write your name in full on it with the palm of your hand. I have tried this often and it does work - although not always the first time.
I am picturing blue - deep midnight blue - like the sky outside. Was that a lion? I strain my ears to hear the distant murmur of a roar.  Apart from that the night is still, quiet, frozen.  

Back to the blue wall....deep dark blue velvet -see it, feel it. The pile is deep and soft...

The first one awake this morning was the francolin - his football rattle type call ripped through the stillness of night breaking the spell that had been cast on every living thing.  A coucal, the rainbird, calls from the forest island - a descending scale of notes that sounds like musical wine being poured from a bottle.  Lions call again from over in the east - a whole pride.

I am wrapped in a warm caccoon of blankets. The icy wind blows over my face through the open window. If i move, my precious warm air escapes. But movement is inevitable  and the ambient temperature of my caccoon drops steadily until I am ready to make the break for wardrobe and warm clothing. The sun rises through a dramatic carpet of purple gold brocade clouds. Coffee warms my hands and the day comes into being.

I hope yours is a good one!

4 comments:

karen said...

I can relate to your insomniac feelings! How difficult it is to fall asleep again - I find the meditation method is usually the best, but only if I really concentrate..

That Selinda palm tree photo is absolutely gorgeous! Glad you managed to upload it!!

Lori ann said...

gosh that is such pretty writing Val. maybe you should have counted sheep this time. ☺

and yes, my god that photo is incredible, the palm and setting sun.

not looking at the other one...

Fire Byrd said...

when I can't sleep I take a deep breath in and out and before the next breathe count down from 20 out loud, one number each breath and I never get to nought
Wonderful lion, looking just so majestic.
xx

Lorac said...

Hmmm... And all I have going down right now is a raccoon thumping around on my back porch and a few rather energetic tree frogs all vying to be the loudest!
I get insomnia 2-3 times a year. It is really horrid and I haven't found anything that stops it. Sounds like you finally got some rest.