Beautiful sunny fall day here today. So thankful for the sun. Feeling pretty cheerful.

B went for his sleep study Thursday night. It went well in that they brought in a CPAP machine around 2:00 am to get him fitted for it. But that indicates just how bad his breathing is when he's asleep...

Talking about sleep brings back memories of different places and ways I've slept. For as long as I can remember I've slept with a pillow tightly over my head. My logic when I was younger was that way if someone broke in I would not wake up to see them standing over my bed with a pipe. Not logical at all looking back but it worked for me then. It never really mattered if my feet were covered though at least not in hot areas. At school in the dorms I would sleep under pillow and covered in blankets so thoroughly that people would come into my room looking for me and not realize I was there. Of course I was much slimmer then and laying on my belly would not leave much of a bump. I remember doing that more in high school then younger. When I was 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade the boarding school I attended had many very tall trees around. I remember lying in my bunk looking out the windows and falling asleep to thoughts of being able to live among the tree tops. I don't remember much wind from those times though. On the other hand, Kijabe was "Place of the Wind" - it seemed there was always wind blowing. There were trees but it was more just the location on the edge of the Rift Valley. I love to listen to wind blowing now - especially at night when I am at home dressed in comfy clothes relaxing. Another favorite sound is the gentle sound of the surf in the Indian Ocean - day or night I loved to get somewhat alone on the beach and just listen to that sound. It is impossible for me to describe it - a continuous rolling swishing sound. Combine that with the warm sun and an ocean breeze...lovely. We slept with windows open to the ocean breeze and the sound though doors were always tightly locked.

I've slept on trains - we would take the overnight train from where we lived in Mombasa to the capital city. We would board around 6 pm - evening after a full day of doing last minute packing, laundry and baking. Mom would have packed a supper meal of some sort of sandwiches and fruit. Breakfast the next morning would be sweet rolls, hard boiled eggs, fruit and probably purchased chai. But come bedtime the bench seats would be turned into beds - the upper bunks serving as padding on the wall during the day. We would pull out our pillows and blankets and claim our bunks. I usually would have one of the middles - 6 beds to a cabin which was just right for our family. That middle bunk allowed me 6 inches or so of window space - the glass was down and the screens were up. I could hear the rhythmic repetitive clackety clack, thump bump of the train as it went down the tracks. Occasionally it would stop at little stations along the way. Then I could hear men talking and occasionally yelling/shouting and smell cigarette smoke through the open window. I never slept as well on the train - it wasn't my bed and it was stable. But it was still fun.

Occasionally brave dorm parents would take us tent camping...a bunch of teenage girls! In the African bush! We didn't have indoor bathroom facilities, no way of showering...but it was an adventure. We cooked over a fire...listened to the wild animals that were off in the distance.

I've slept in a hut where grain was stored and I could hear the critters moving around during the night. I've slept in hotels, on airplanes, on buses...probably other places I can't think of right now. Time to scoot as I need to get ready for work.