Middle of the Night Stuff

Sometimes, I wake in the middle of the night for no reason I can find. Tonight is one of those nights. Before I woke, I was dreaming, but it wasn't one where waking is mandatory to prevent further damage to peace of mind. I've had those dreams before; some filled with the terror of impending death, or a hopeless situation. My dream was of dealing with meeting with an air-conditioner contractor for a new unit at my parent's house, which was my house they were living in, which I'd never seen before, but was familiar with, even though it was a complete fabrication of my imagination. That, and it was near a town I knew, but was a town I've never been to in real life, and the people I was dealing with were people from my past that (as far as I know) never had anything to do with air-conditioning installations. It wasn't stressful. It was more like a typical day just dealing with life. So, after waking, and realizing sleep wasn't possible, I decided for some coffee and time on the porch. 

My neighbor's dog was raising hell at something. Considering the location, I had the feeling it had a critter in the dumpster. It would run one way, bark at the dumpster, run around to another strategic location, bark again, and make every effort to keep the dumpster surrounded. Shining my spotlight didn't reveal anything but a startled dog that slunk away as though I was scolding it. My dog, which decided to go on the porch with me, added a few woofs for good measure, and the dogs in the neighborhood added their woofs to show their solidarity. 

I stayed outside for a little longer to see if there was something that led me to waking. I couldn't determine anything out of the ordinary. Maybe it was the gusty wind from the approaching change in weather disturbing my sleep. That, or maybe the change in barometric pressure is more of an influence than known. I'll never know, but do know the coffee is good, the temperature is 71 degrees outside, and it's the grand time before civilization shatters the morning calm. I'll take my coffee back to the porch and contemplate the correct solutions to the problems of the world.