SLEEP ESCAPES ME IN IOWA, BUT THE DREAMS EVENTUALLY COME

  

A candy-colored clown they call the sandman
Tiptoes to my room every night
Just to sprinkle stardust and to whisper
"Go to sleep, everything is alright"

                Roy Orbison, "In Dreams"

Sound, restful sleep is not an option for me while waiting for Ana to finish her 12 hour overnight shift.

The NBA did set me up with a playoff double header, but the particular games didn't interest me and I turned the sound down to watch my favorite travel vlogs instead.

Noraly Schoenmaker

Noraly Schoenmaker, a 32 year old world traveler from Norway known as Itchy Boots, has just had her Honda CRF 300 Rally completely gone through in Dakar, Senegal to start leg 2 of her trek through Africa.

Sabbatical

Sabbatical, a young man from New York and a genius level linguist, spent several years in mainland China, speaks flawless Mandarin, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and a number of other languages, just spent the last week learning pigeon Indonesian for his current trip.

After catching up on the two travelers, I admit to watching a few "reaction videos," usually done by young people not old enough to actually remember the Beatles or Elvis, trying to "analyze" the music.

Anyway, I ignore the commentary, as I'm just tuning in to listen to those classic songs one more time.

Yes, I should be sleeping, but I don't trust my Iphone's alarm to actually ring.

It's only after picking up my wife from the facility where she works that I can finally sleep securely, worry-free.

This bed in Iowa reminds me of the 12" foam mattress of our apartment in Brownsville; firm, but with just the right amount of "give."

I must be getting some REM, because I actually remember my dreams.

Those dreams were going to be the subject of this article, but as frequently happens, I got sidetracked.