Silver Linings

Particularly noisy night last night, and the shock of sudden peace at half past one was almost overwhelming. Terribly, terribly hackneyed of course, but I became so aware of the little noises, the friendly noises, the ones that nourish rather than eat away at us. The wind, the old house's pipes, my wife's breathing- the familiar stuff made something to cherish again. And with moments of calm being as elusive as they are for me at the moment, part of me wanted to fight sleep and enjoy the sounds of the ordinary for a while. Of course another- far more sensible- part of me was well aware that I had to get up for work at seven and that I had just come off the back of another night with less than two hours sleep. Appreciating the aesthetics of the commonplace is all very well, but time and place, time and place.