Sleep Deprived

Distant hum

of  constant traffic

sleepless night

I'm amazed anyone ever sleeps around here. Waking at 2am, which is nothing unusual for me, I then proceeded to inadvertently listen in to a one-sided telephone conversation for the next hour or so. Not from inside here though; someone from one of the other units was on her mobile, outside, at 2am mind you, talking quite animatedly, so there was no way of avoiding it. The language was unfamiliar, of Pacific Island origin I think, so at least on one level I didn't feel like I was eavesdropping.

I can only surmise she was outside in order not to wake the rest of her household, but little did she realise the volume and length of this most fervent discussion was keeping the rest of the neighbourhood awake. Well, it was keeping me awake anyway, no stirring from the bedroom next door, no complaints from nearby neighbours, so maybe this is normal for the locals and it all just blends in with the rest of the constant ambient noise.

After that, there was no hope but to stare at the ceiling, roll from side to side, curl myself up every which way, but no matter what, sleep was banished for the night. Then blow me down, as if that wasn't bad enough, the next door neighbour shoved his garage door up at 4am, they're not the quiet push-button sort I can tell you, and moved his car either in or out, not sure which.

The proliferation of townhouses and apartment blocks on what was once a suburban plot with a single house, means people are living on top of each other in increasing numbers, quite literally in many cases. Rubbing up against each other with less and less personal space and lack of privacy can take its toll, so unless you take steps to create a positive personal environment as well as have meaningful contact with those in your immediate surroundings, you can end up being at the mercy of your neighbours for your quality of life.

They call New York the city that never sleeps, and I guess most big cities are the same. Sydney is no exception, for the drone in the distance of constantly flowing traffic never lets up. Who the heck is driving around at two, three, four and five in the morning that there's that much noise? Go to bed people! Stay there!

The hours tick by, all favourite sleeping positions tried, still no sleep. Dawn arrives as light creeps around the edge of the blind, the sun makes its appearance, and those dratted pigeons are at it again. Coo-coo, coo-coo, and another answers coo-cooooo, coo-cooweeoo. Enough already. And don't even think about getting me started on the dogs. The two over the fence, yip-yip, yap-yap-yap, sound like they have one of the local feral cats cornered and are dismembering it.

Oh what a beautiful morning..........