The Night
I relish the night.
Well, the night probably isn't my favorite part of the day. I mean, in terms of options, daylight has so many more possibilites. But in the time after everyone has gone to sleep and before you see the first rays of sunlight coming in through the window, that, that is a wonderful time.
I remember in college being up at 2 or 3am and wandering the halls of my dorm. Even though often during the day you'd find yourself alone while going to and from your room, there was something different about the emptiness of the halls at night. The dim lighting. The lack of noise; The only thing you could hear was the hum of the fluorescent bulbs. You felt like you had the whole building to yourself. Hell, the whole world.
The world feels calm at night. You move at a different speed. You don't rush around, and even if you do, your rushing has a certain pace to it.
The night never feels like it is going to end. If you start a project at night, be it personal or for school or for work, the far off dawn is this never approaching deadline. You are in a world all to yourself. You can put something off for as long as you want, but as long as you start before midnight, you can probably get what you need done.
I look forward to the night, because I know that usually, at the very least, I will out last most everyone else. And after everyone has gone and returned to their homes, their nighttime worlds, or drifted off to sleep, I will again have my world all to myself. I love that time alone to unwind from the day's events. I can read or program or clean. For as long as I want. And eventually I can crawl in bed next to my wife, who has prewarmed the covers for me, cuddle up next to her warm body and let my head hit that pillow and disappear into sleep practically immediately.
I've long had a theory that the best way to sleep is to stay up as long as you possibly can, and then when you can't stay up any longer you won't have any trouble falling asleep and sleeping well. Though that philosophy really only works if you can wake when you want to and/or nap when you want to. But man, when sleep finally comes after staying up late into the night, it is so wonderful. Sleeping after a late night might be one of my favorite things in the world.
I hate trying to go to sleep early, and lying in bed wondering when I'll finally drift off, hoping it will happen soon. Wonderful, deep sleep isn't obtained that way!
I get more done at night. I know about the studies that talk about how the less you sleep you get the less efficient and functional you are, but I can concentrate better at 1am than I can at 1pm. At night you don't have the distractions of the world. And I've always been that way. In college I'd say most of my homework was done late after all the distractions had gone off to bed. I guess sometimes late at night I hit a problem that I can't think through, but that usually just means I've hit that magical point at which I need to sleep.
All that said not all is always peachy about the night... If I'm out of "my home" (whatever that may be that particular night: my apartment, or the house I'm staying at, or the hotel I'm in, or my tent, etc), then the night is nothing but absolutely, completely, petrifyingly terrifying. I hate the dark. Or if I am in "my home" but trapped in my head, stressed out about the future or the past, then then night is neverending and oh so incredibly lonely.
But I prefer not to think of the night that way. The night is a hopeful time, a chance to get ready for the next day when when I'll do everything right and get everything I need to done.
One of my favorite nighttime memories is from one of our yearly trips to the mountains in January. This was in high school and I was up later than everyone else (which was rare at the time) and I wandered out onto the balcony to watch the snow falling. I remember just staring up into those giant falling snow flakes and watching them come floating down.
Being up later than everyone else at night feels like that snow falling. Peaceful, calm and full of potential.
Oh, boy do I relish the night!
And now my friends, I'm going to roll over, cuddle with Keri and pass out. I'll see you in the morning!
29 December 2011 09:33am UTC • 120 views • 6 comments
Tagged with night, painfulposts
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6 comments
BenGood109
29 December 2011 07:29pm UTC
Have you tried running at night? I particularly enjoy it myself! Granted I have never run late in the night...but I mean more like running after dark. In the summer, running after dark is a perfect time to run when it is too hot in the day. A run after dark around 10 pm is an amazing experience in the summer. For me the run after dark feels as if it goes by faster, is at a faster pace and feels easier and is more peaceful! It just feels like I'm whooshing or gliding through the dark world. Of course when I run after dark I only do it in places I know well and feel comfortable in, otherwise it would be a little scary.
Running in the dark in winter time works too, I just can't do it when its raining, then that's just too much for me. Also since it gets dark so early but people are still out bustling and driving around, to get the peaceful factor of a late summer run I will usually do my dark winter runs in the early morning say about 5 AM. Then the world is still mostly quiet and streets are bare. Its very peaceful.
Swordsman Satchel
30 December 2011 06:10pm UTC
Agreed
Robert
31 December 2011 12:39am UTC
I need an office with windows, night and day feel about the same to me.
sebastian
3 January 2012 09:10pm UTC
Ben,
I feel so strongly about this that I finally created a USER ID! (yes, I have been secretly reading your blog for awhile now). Anyhoo, NIGHT HIKING! Doing it in a dense forset can be creepy, but you get over it (carry your knife unsheathed and play out a Rambo fantasy!), and in the right setting it is just too perfect for words. Whether it is a little cold out and you can see your own breath in the light of your headlamp or a breezy full moon summer night. Granted you can't see things, which is generally the point of hiking, it is an exhilarating (yet deeply peaceful!) experience. Do it people.
Dread Pirate Benjamin
5 January 2012 08:03am UTC
In response to Ben's comment, I went on a run this fall in the dark, and it was quite exhilarating but also a little terrifying. I definitely ran a lot faster than I normally do. I think one important requirement for frequent runs in the dark would be to find a place where you feel safe. We don't have a place nearby (within running distance) that we feel safe alone in the dark. So, we might have to put this on the to do list for later on in life!
In Response to Sebastian's comment, the few times that I have been the most terrified in my entire life have been when I've been alone in the woods at night and even at dusk. The woods are terrifying when you're alone.
That said, as long as you have someone there with you, going out of the tent and feeling the solitude of night can be incredible. Especially with a full moon or a clear night with a lot of stars. And as far as seeing your breath, I couldn't agree more! It is my second favorite simple life pleasure (and should maybe even be first)!
Dread Pirate Benjamin
5 January 2012 08:04am UTC
Robert, you don't have any roommates, do you? My guess is you'd notice a difference if you had roommates. Nighttime would be the only time you'd have the whole place to yourself (unless you lived with me)!