One night this week:
I went to bed, turning off the light and playing computer solitaire in bed until I was tired enough to go to sleep. Just about 11:00 PM, I folded up my laptop and set it beside my bed, gave Snickers a scratch behind his ears, then closed my eyes to fall into a fast sleep.
2:30 AM I was startled awake out of a sound sleep by...
Grrr! -- Accompanied by a bang-bang-rattle-scratch. Not only that, but the bed was shaking. My eyes popped open instantly. Snickers, on the end of my bed, was growling wildly and banging on the glass of my window to try to get out.
Sleeping upstairs and figuring it was probably one of those pesky squirrels climbing in the tree outside my window, I ordered, "Shh! Snickers, be quiet." He would not. He was going nuts. There was something out there. He kept banging on the window glass and growling fiercely.
Banging on the glass is not good because it could lead to breaking the glass, and that would definitely be very BAD. But Snickers would not calm down. I sat up to wrap my arms around his whole body and keep him from banging the glass. At the same time, I looked out the window. Three deer were walking away from the house. Accustomed to seeing occasional deer come up to the front of the house to eat crabapples off our tree, I did not think much of this. It did not even occur to me that crabapple season is now long gone. The threat of the deer was gone and I just wanted to get back to sleep. I dragged Snickers up to the top of my bed as I leaned back onto my pillow and wrapped us both up in the covers.
The next night:
I was super tired. After the dog woke me up with his banging and growling, I could not get back to sleep until about 5:30 -- half an hour before my alarm rings to wake me up. As a result, I went to bed around 9:30 PM and fell to sleep with NO difficulty.
2:40 AM I was again startled out of a sound sleep. This time by...
Ruff - ruff - ruff! The bed started viole1ntly shaking. Fortunately, though, there was no banging or scratching on window glass. (The dog had learned!) Again, Snickers would not quiet down. But, this time, I suspected the culprit. Sure enough, I sat up to see the tail end of a deer quickly escaping the threatening noise of my knee-high carnivore. (Actually, that is not quite true. According to the guy at the pet store, Dogs are really omnivores.)
This time, I took note. I suspected my mother must have recently put something on the front porch that was attracting deer. I determined to look at the front porch during the daylight to determine what that might be and bring it inside for the night. Again, I tried and failed to get back to sleep.
All day, I forgot to check the front porch for whatever was baiting the deer in the middle of the night. Right before bed, I remembered and mentally kicked myself. Inwardly resolving to be awakened in the middle of the night one last time, I decided to mention the problem to my mom. I figured that if I forgot to look in the morning, maybe she would remember.
"Hey, Mom," I caught her attention as Snickers was outside for his final, evening pit stop, "Could you help me remember to check the front porch tomorrow? For the past two nights, Snickers has been waking me up in the middle of the night to bark out my window at deer."
"Oh, is that what he was barking at? I heard him and wondered, but forgot to mention it. Thanks for letting me know. I was wondering what the squirrel was doing with all that bird food."
I went to bed, turning off the light and playing computer solitaire in bed until I was tired enough to go to sleep. Just about 11:00 PM, I folded up my laptop and set it beside my bed, gave Snickers a scratch behind his ears, then closed my eyes to fall into a fast sleep.
2:30 AM I was startled awake out of a sound sleep by...
Grrr! -- Accompanied by a bang-bang-rattle-scratch. Not only that, but the bed was shaking. My eyes popped open instantly. Snickers, on the end of my bed, was growling wildly and banging on the glass of my window to try to get out.
Sleeping upstairs and figuring it was probably one of those pesky squirrels climbing in the tree outside my window, I ordered, "Shh! Snickers, be quiet." He would not. He was going nuts. There was something out there. He kept banging on the window glass and growling fiercely.
Banging on the glass is not good because it could lead to breaking the glass, and that would definitely be very BAD. But Snickers would not calm down. I sat up to wrap my arms around his whole body and keep him from banging the glass. At the same time, I looked out the window. Three deer were walking away from the house. Accustomed to seeing occasional deer come up to the front of the house to eat crabapples off our tree, I did not think much of this. It did not even occur to me that crabapple season is now long gone. The threat of the deer was gone and I just wanted to get back to sleep. I dragged Snickers up to the top of my bed as I leaned back onto my pillow and wrapped us both up in the covers.
The next night:
I was super tired. After the dog woke me up with his banging and growling, I could not get back to sleep until about 5:30 -- half an hour before my alarm rings to wake me up. As a result, I went to bed around 9:30 PM and fell to sleep with NO difficulty.
2:40 AM I was again startled out of a sound sleep. This time by...
Ruff - ruff - ruff! The bed started viole1ntly shaking. Fortunately, though, there was no banging or scratching on window glass. (The dog had learned!) Again, Snickers would not quiet down. But, this time, I suspected the culprit. Sure enough, I sat up to see the tail end of a deer quickly escaping the threatening noise of my knee-high carnivore. (Actually, that is not quite true. According to the guy at the pet store, Dogs are really omnivores.)
This time, I took note. I suspected my mother must have recently put something on the front porch that was attracting deer. I determined to look at the front porch during the daylight to determine what that might be and bring it inside for the night. Again, I tried and failed to get back to sleep.
All day, I forgot to check the front porch for whatever was baiting the deer in the middle of the night. Right before bed, I remembered and mentally kicked myself. Inwardly resolving to be awakened in the middle of the night one last time, I decided to mention the problem to my mom. I figured that if I forgot to look in the morning, maybe she would remember.
"Hey, Mom," I caught her attention as Snickers was outside for his final, evening pit stop, "Could you help me remember to check the front porch tomorrow? For the past two nights, Snickers has been waking me up in the middle of the night to bark out my window at deer."
"Oh, is that what he was barking at? I heard him and wondered, but forgot to mention it. Thanks for letting me know. I was wondering what the squirrel was doing with all that bird food."
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