Sleeping in a Hat

            At this time… I mean in my real life it’s November 6^th but I probably won’t post this until next week so now it’s in the past to you.  Well, to me too now, I guess.  Very confusing!  Now I forgot what I was going to say…  Thank goodness I wrote the title up there!  Right! Last night, I slept in a hat. 

            My husband and I are forcibly camping in our own house.  Due to Hurricane Sandy and the resulting electricity problems, my house has been off line for 8 days now.  Every day, the temperature drops a degree or two.  Last night, the bedroom was 53 degrees. BUT I have a house so I am NOT complaining.  I am merely observing!  It’s chilly but, surprisingly, all right once I am in bed under the covers. 

            Last night, I decided to sleep in a hat for some extra toastiness and it definitely helped.  But, if you’re me, there are lots of random thoughts to think when you are waiting for the sheets to warm up AND trying to fall asleep in scary total darkness.  Like: a hat is not ideal for sleeping in.  Who knew?  Well, not me. And, since there was no way I was going to get out of bed into the cold air to change my head gear, I laid there thinking, or rather planning, my next chilly night.

            Every time I turned over, my hat wouldn’t turn with me.  The friction from the sheets would hold it in place.  So, basically, I rotated within the hat.  Eventually my hair was twisted up like a Carvel cone- leaving my neck bare and icy. And, like a toddler bundled up in a stroller, it kept slipping down over my eyes.  I don’t know why it bothered me- I wouldn’t be able to see anything even if my eyes were open.  But somehow it did…  And having my forehead and eye sockets warm drew attention to my freezing nose.  So I lay there plotting- hoodie or balaclava tomorrow?

            Eventually, I moved completely under the covers.  Which caused all new problems.  No, not problems.  Conditions.  Going completely under is suffocating.  But, the air out there is freezing.  It takes a while to get a good bubble of an air lock formed by the sheet.  One that lets a little frigid air seep in but warms it up before it gets to you.  It’s very complicated.  I actually lay there thinking about car engines and trying to think of the name of the part that keeps the gas-air mixture balanced for combustion.   I am crazy.  Then I was thinking, if I invented an airlock for sleeping under the covers, what would I name it?  (If you’re wondering, I didn’t come up with a good name…)

            It’s interesting how, when your usual life turns upside down, everything gets broken down to its simplest form.  At night, I typically lay awake thumbing through my current prevailing anxieties.  I worry, plan and list and then have stress dreams.  Last night, I just thought of the chill and how to beat it.  Then I slept great.  Life is funny…..

P.S. The next day presented me with a new stress- gas.  Last Wednesday, I spent almost 5 hours total in the hunt to fill one car.  Then the Nor'easter roared in just to top off the craziness. BUT, wonder of wonders, my power came back that night.  And stayed through the new storm- even as many more trees and poles came down all around.  It feels like a two week chunk of life was just erased.  Everything before seems so far removed and life is just starting to seem more normal.  This in a town who's only damage was hundreds of fallen trees.  For the South Shore... holy smokes.  I can't even imagine...  

And all you people who still have no electricity or heat, yes, you can start complaining...