The upside of insomnia

Death and taxis, er, taxes - the two constant companions to life they say. In my case I'd add a third to the list - insomnia. In spite of it being many years since the event, my mother still likes to remind me on a regular basis that I cried continually for my 1st 6 months without pause for sleeping, and that, even as a toddler, the flicking on of the kettle in the kitchen or the whisper of a curtain closing was enough to wake me up.

Well nothing much has changed in 40 years. My recent bout of insomnia has been a cracker even by my standards, the other day / night / whatever seeing me fall asleep precisely 50 minutes before the alarm clock went off. And then trying to put contact lenses in.

So after reading for a couple of hours and then spending another thrashing around with the duvet, I temporaily abandoned my bed last night / this morning and came down for a cuppa. Opened the back door to empty the ash tray while the kettle was boiling and found...

It was snowing! Proper snow, settling on the faded reclining red chair and the fat balls for the birds out in the back yard. So obviously I had to take the dog out for a walk. Luckily, even though it was 2.45 in the morning, Rhona was still awake (it being less insomnia in her case than the fact she's running to a student clock). We dressed in double quick time and crashed out of the house - she and I swathed in scarves and coats, the dog just gleeful for a walk at any time.

And it was beautiful. The whole of the park, the sand pit, the beach, the promenade, all covered in snow. Not a footprint in sight either. Perhaps unsurprisingly at 3am, there was no-one about. Dog off his lead, Rhona taking pictures on her digital camera as we walked along the beach, the snow illuminated by the few street lights and the camera flash. Our footprints and the dog's paw prints, the patterns of his slides and skids and where he just crouched down and rubbed his face in the snow. How lucky we were to have caught the snow in all its fresh laid glory. Quite magical.

Insomnia certainly does have its upsides.