Last night was another night of wrestling with insomnia. Since I worked the evening shift at the library, I knew that sleep would be elusive. I crawled in bed around 11:30 and Sam gave me a back rub to lull me to sleep. I began to relax and then -- Sam fell asleep and I promptly awoke. I rolled over, turned on my bedside lamp, and picked up The Subtle Knife -- my favorite of the His Dark Materials Trilogy. Around 2:30 a.m. I realized that the story was too exciting and imaginative to be sleep inducing.Closing the book, I crept downstairs and in a last ditch effort for sleep made warm milk. While my concoction of milk, honey, vanilla, and nutmeg warmed, I sat at the table in the golden light of a lamp and appreciated the quiet. If it wasn't for the fact that I had to be up at 6 a.m. for work, I would have sat quietly until dawn listening to the whir of crickets and yesterday's rain dripping off branches. I drank my milk and was off to bed.
In case you should find yourself sleepless -- the best way to drink warm milk is in bed, half-buried under a quilt, with a cat on your pillow, and the milk in your favorite owl mug. Sip slowly and then slumber.
*Thank you, Sylvia Plath
4 comments:
I have never had warm milk in my life....probably because I don't drink milk? LOL But the way you describe having it sounds nice and cozy.
I'm not much of a milk drinker, so I think I'd have to be pretty desperate to drink it warm! I can see that a suspense book is probably not the best thing to induce sleep. Perhaps the phone book?
Oooh, what is your recipe for your milk concoction?
Giggly and Carl -- I adore milk. But only 2%. Whole milk is bleh.
Christina: take a double boiler (or if you don't have one put a second saucepan in a pan of boiling water). Then dump in a cup of milk, a splash of vanilla, and a tbsp of honey. Warm the concotion until it is hot (not boiling). Pour in mug and sprinkle with nutmeg. Enjoy!
Post a Comment