Virginia Is For Families

Oh the joy of waking up at two am and not being able to sleep! What do we do in this situation? Some of us turn on the television I suppose. Others may grab a book and start to read. A few intrepid souls may go for walks and look at the moon. Still others may grab a snack. This last is bad for you I’m told because the calories just sit there and result in an increased waistline.

Of course if you have a snack and then go for a walk you might burn some of those calories. And if you end up being chased around the neighborhood in the middle of the night by a dog or a shadowy figure you may be glad you had something in your tank to burn.

There seem to be certain hours of the night when it’s not alright to take a walk. Or am I just imagining things? It’s fine to go out late or get up very early and walk before daylight but that’s different.

We have a Nintendo Wii now and we can do different things on it. I can bowl on it or pretend I’m a penguin on a large piece of ice. When fish flop up on the ice I can try to eat them and gain points. It’s a balancing exercise and very good for someone who has poor balance. Maybe I should go downstairs and turn it on.

It’s a better deal than, let’s say, going for a walk in the dark at two am and falling over into the ditch because you have poor balance when you cannot see things.

Another thing you can do in the middle of the night is blog. Maybe you will regret it in the morning however. Your eyes will crack up because at some point they finally cracked shut. And you will think “Oh,oh. What did I post last night? Maybe I should have taken a walk.”

Well it can’t be helped. We must take risks in life. We must venture out into the darkness of physical space or inward towards the unknown thoughts floating around in our heads. We can put on our shoes or start typing words that will hopefully lead somewhere in a short period of time.

Sitting. Waiting. Hoping. Fingers at the keyboard.

Nothing. There is nothing here. And my teeth hurt because I clench them when I sleep. Maybe I should turn on the television and watch Billy Mays tell us all about the joys of effective cleansers. Oh wait. He died very unexpectedly after returning home following a rough landing that burst the tires of the airplane. He left home and did not return in good shape.

Maybe he should have bought a Wii and worked on his golf in cyberspace. No. That’s not right. He went out and lived his life in a very successful way. And he died trying. Michael Jackson on the other hand died in bed and he was not full of peanut butter and crackers when his soul went out the door. Excess calories were not his problem.

Maybe he should have taken more walks even in the middle of the night. Scary as that seems to me it could have done him a lot of good. Taking real or imagined risks makes sense sometimes. Yes.

I should take a walk. Right now. In the middle of the night. And bring along this little MP3 player. Perhaps I will see the moon and clouds racing along in silent joy. Or perhaps it will be completely dark and I will fall in a ditch.

Either way I will have accomplished something. I will have merged my two worlds and remained whole. Maybe I will listen to this while exploring the darkness.

04 – Thriller