We sleep with the windows open. I like to feel the night air on me, so even in the wintertime, they are always at least cracked. This means that all night long I hear the sounds of the harbor.
I hear the cables on the sailboats swaying in the wind and making an almost constant chime as they knock against the masts. I hear the water lap against the harbor side and the boats. I hear the wind in its many forms (a light breeze, a whipping bluster, howls and whistles). These are the soothing sounds of the harbor, but there are other sounds that can wake you up with a jolt: dogs barking as people walk their dogs on the path below your house all hours of the night. Drunk and rowdy people walking home from the many restaurants and bars that are just a 5-minute walk away, the thunderous sound of the swans taking flight (I can write a whole entry on the swans alone) and the seagulls! The seagulls are the worst (unless you count the sound of the cat that fell in the harbor one dark, awful night that we couldn’t find to save from drowning).
The seagulls not only shriek and squawk, but they sound like they also fight and squabble. They taunt, tease and bicker all night long until it finally turns into a full-blown clash that can last far too long!
I keep ear plugs next to my bed at all times. I am a light sleeper and more times than not, if I am awoken in the night, it’s a struggle to get back to sleep (if I’m even able to). This morning the seagulls woke me up at 5:00AM. I laid there until 6:00 when I gave up on getting back to sleep.
So here I sit on my couch with only the sound of the keys as I type and those soothing sound of the harbor that are always there in the background (the seagulls appear to have gone to sleep), with a cat on each side of me, a cup of coffee next to me and a book I’ve been meaning to start. Why does this always happen on the days that my son sleeps in?
Comments