Sorry Wrong Number, Wind and Insomnia

An hour ago the phone rang and now I'm up. It rang several times before it shook me out of the deep sleep and weird dream I was having. The older woman on the end of the line asked for Collette. I've heard her voice before and I'm sure she has called in the middle of the night more than once. I mumbled, "Sorry you have the wrong number". At this point, though battling insomnia for years, I was confident I would be able to go back to sleep.

But then, this caller asked me a question, rather she said, "Is it okay if I ask you a question?" My level of consciousness has now jumped to the "fairly alert" end of the scale and I'm wondering what this stranger could possibly want to ask me. She doesn't sound like an obscene caller, she sounds like a grandma. I sighed and out of curiosity said, "yes" and then repeated back to her what she asked, "You want to know what time it is?"

Jeff' groans and I feel him shake his head in exasperation. I can't see the clock from my side of the bed, so I sit up and lean over him. "It's 1:30", I tell her. She says in a very apologetic tone, "Oh, is it 1:30 already, no wonder you're asleep." We said good-night and hung up.

Now, I've moved from "fairly alert" to "fully awake". I clicked the caller ID button and she called from Savannah, GA. Yes, Mrs. Savannah has called here before. I wonder if she was just trying to reach Collete to find out what time it was? I flop back down on the pillow knowing that this was way too much conversation for me to go back to sleep, but I'll try. Jeff's snoring but the talking has woke up "The Sadie Lady" and she wants to go out, I think.

We've had thunderstorms for the last several nights, with the same weather forecast for tonight plus high winds. Several years ago we had a horrendous lightening storm. Sadie and I were looking out the dining room window when lightening hit the transformer in our side yard. I made the mistake of screaming and it scarred Sadie for life. She is deathly afraid of thunder, lightening and fireworks. So, it is not surprising to me (given the weatherman's words of wisdom) that she is pacing the bedroom floor.

She stuck her cold nose on my arm and laid her head on the bed next to my ear and whined. I sit up again and look out the bedroom windows. No lightening that I can see and no thunder that I can hear, but the wind is blowing and the windows are creaking against the strain. Click, click, click, go the toenails on the hard wood floors. Back and forth she goes from the windows to my side of the bed. I get up to see if by chance she just wants to go outside. Nope, didn't think so; when I open the door she hides in the corner.

I flop back in the bed and Jeff starts rubbing my back. I asked him a silly question like the one Mrs. Savannah asked me, "Are you awake?". He mumbles, "Just try to go back to sleep", rolls over and is snoring again in minutes. Now all good insomniacs know the words "go back to sleep" are not a potent sedative.

So I resign myself to getting up. I made coffee while Sadie checked out all the windows and doors. She must have decided the lightening and thunder monsters weren't going to descend on our house anytime soon. She even went outside for a few minutes and came bouncing back when I called her, smiling and wagging her tail the way she does. She's happy to know that "mom" is on storm guard duty. Within minutes she's sleeping soundly on the floor of my office. I can hear Jeff's muffled snoring.....even the wind has gone to sleep...but, the coffee is calling me.....