Ordinary Nighttime Occurances...

I've fallen into an unhealthy routine lately. At 2:00 am, I find myself wide-eyed, heart beating rapidly, strewn across the bed. I stare at the ceiling and just listen. My eyes trace the path along the floor of a THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. HUGE THUMP. Shuffling. Thump. Thump... trailing off.

We have neighbors upstairs. They're not large guys, but they have a problem with choosing footwear outside the spectrum of rodeo wear. Maybe they're shitkicker boots. Either way, their choice of footwear makes them always walk with a certain undeserved authority: one that certainly doesn't exist at 2:00 am when you're in your own home.

2 am marks the time when they usually have had too much to drink, and remember that they should probably head home. They toss the door open, and begin the trek across the wood floors to bed. Without fail, someone will shout obscene things to one of the other 2 housemates. The path to bed sounds like a cycle of stammering, falling dead weight on the floor, and then staggering back to an upright position to fall over once again. And it goes on for about 1/2 hour every night.

My body is now trained to tune in for this great experience. It's my body's way of saying "Hey. Are you positive you want to live in this house again next year? Do you really value sleep?" Sometimes I get an added bonus: The stumbling lands the drunkard close enough to a stereo, which then begins to blare the same bad music you hear at area bars. But it's only the basslines. The words and melodies are incoherent.

This week is a bit different. Spring break. Silence. No one upstairs. No cars littering the streets. No high heels clattering on the brick roads on the way to the bus stop. No crushed cans in the flower beds. Just time to sit up at 2am in the morning and enjoy the peace and quiet...