Your eyes are getting heavy...

...very, very heavy.

Ahhh, sleep.  Wonderful, peaceful, refreshing sleep.

Hello....where are you?

Night before last I had a hard time falling asleep.   On those particular nights I generally watch the Early Late, Late, and Late Late shows on my bedroom TV. However, I suddenly remembered my cable company also has about 30 channels that play nothing but music, so, I says to myself, "Self, let's try one of those channels."

I started flipping through them with my remote and found one labeled "Easy Listening".  Hey, I like "Easy Listening", this could be my ticket to La La Land.  I'm a pretty happy camper.  However, there was one fly in this particular ointment.  I found the music they were instrumentalizing (yes, I know that's not a word), were all songs I knew the words to, and as a result I was singing them in my head.

YOU CANNOT FALL ASLEEP WHILE YOU ARE SINGING IN YOUR HEAD. Although I did eventually doze off.  I had forgotten to set the timer on the TV, and a couple of hours later I awoke, the music was still playing and once more the singing in my head started.  Wouldn't you think I would have turned the TV off.  Of course you would...but did I?  No.

Eventually I fell back to sleep.  Next time I woke up, I said to no one in particular.  "Well, this isn't working", and did turn the TV off.  That experience was a total bummer.

I happened to mention to my sister my failed experiment, and she concluded I had a good idea, but that perhaps I'd simply chosen the wrong kind of music.  She suggested I try "Classical".

She was right.  Classical has not words, I know nothing about it, to speak of,
and decided I would try that.  So, I did last night.  Oh, the first piece was beautiful, I could feel myself relaxing, it was (what I think is called) a piano concerto.  I was in heaven.  This was going to work.  I was surprised how long it played.  I found the tempo changed during the piece, sometimes it was quite lyrical, sometimes slightly melancholy, but all in all peaceful and relaxing.  Good stuff, good stuff.

Then, the second piece started...I think with oboes, or maybe tubas...anyway, the music was mysterious, unsettling.  Other instruments joined in.  Hmmm?  This was not pretty, nor was it anywhere near relaxing.  It got more and more eerie.  I began to see creatures creeping out of a dark forest.  The wind began to blow.
Drums thundered, symbols crackled forth lightening.

Oh, brother!

I grab my remote and begin to surf the other music channels.  Good golly, Miss Molly.  There were channels just for kids, rock and roll, rap, alternative (whatever the heck that is), the 70's, 80's, 90's, country...well that would make me melancholy and probably cry.  I scrolled through religious channels, salsa, Mexican, rhythm and blues, and on and on and on.  Suddenly, THERE IT WAS!  The absolute, perfect channel.

It was labeled "Soundscapes".  I allowed the first song to envelop me.  There were violins, cellos, flutes and things.  It was as though the music was wrapping me in a magical blanket.  Honest to gosh...it was instrumental perfection.  I stayed on the channel, the second and third selections were equally enjoyable. And before I knew it, I was asleep.  Next time I opened my eyes it was almost seven this morning.

I'm hoping I've solved my sleepless night quandary.  I like the idea of drifting off in slumber to the sound of birds chirping, rain falling, babbling brooks and all.....that......jazzz.....zzzzzz.......zzzzzzzz.............zzz..z..z...