It's just after 3 am and I'm taking a short breath of fresh air on my break time
The sky is an inky black and I can smell the sea from the nearby West shore
I can smell the sea but cannot hear the waves on the beach
Which seems odd
Llandudno seems silent too
Another oddment given the number of Christmas lights already up and sparkling
A patient had given me a French pastry earlier and I find it in my pocket and eat it
Five hours till end of shift
The sky is an inky black and I can smell the sea from the nearby West shore
I can smell the sea but cannot hear the waves on the beach
Which seems odd
Llandudno seems silent too
Another oddment given the number of Christmas lights already up and sparkling
A patient had given me a French pastry earlier and I find it in my pocket and eat it
Five hours till end of shift
Oho! A rare coincidence of timing means I can post the first comment!
ReplyDeleteIt's quiet here at 11 pm in Ithaca NY but I'm not going outside to check; it's supposed to do "wintry mix", among the most unpleasant of weathers, for the next few hours. I'm on my way to a hot shower for a headache, and then to bed. I hope the rest of your shift is uneventful and the dogs let you sleep tomorrow.
Sally
Hi, JayGee. I've been up since 2.45 a.m., fed the pussycats and let out the two who need assistance to exit, watched the 3.a.m. news on Sky and BBC, taken my blood pressure medications, read my daily 'dose' of 6 poems, ensured my learning by heart of all the Shakespeare sonnets *(refreshed in memory by one per day), + another poem by heart (T.S.Eliot today), read another chapter of British history, brought in the cats - checked for e-mails, caught up on the blogs, as I'm doing here - and soon I return to bed (now 4.30) - In other words, so far just a 'normal' day (with no sound - or smell - of the sea, just half a mile away).
ReplyDeleteHeigh-ho and a yawn.
it's 10.58 in Kansas City... warmish and dry. The weatherperson says tomorrow will be a good day to put up the Christmas lights. Wish I could hear and see the ocean! Hope your French pastry was good!
ReplyDeleteI love Christmas lights ...look after yourself x
ReplyDeleteI was planning a little lay in, but the big dog and pup decided to serenade me. Oh well, inky black and very quiet, but the dawn will be here soon. Take care x
ReplyDeleteJust waved hubby and son off on a trip to warmer weather. Now drinking my healthy fresh green juice.
ReplyDeleteA special time while the town slumbers. I was up well before dawn this morning. I returned from my first stint as a volunteer at our community hospital with an awful cough, the price you pay I suppose until the immune system gears itself up to meet the onslaught of germs and wee beasties.
ReplyDeleteLX
3.00 a.m. - the hardest part of night shift.
ReplyDelete3am and 3pm..the hardest times of the day, either not being able to sleep....or not able to stay awake
ReplyDeleteYou set the scene. Just to smell the ocean.
ReplyDeleteBeing Fox like, I was up late watching a marathon of Jewel in The Crown. Fell asleep a few hours. There's been a light rain all night and candles lit. Going for a snooze now.
Dark and dank, you have caught and captured the ambience of this weekend. Always weird just before the g!if gladness of the Christmas build up games over. Hope your mood lifts. Just trudge through it......and join the rest of us!
ReplyDeleteWorking through the night can be strange and kind of lonesome. It's quite unnatural.
ReplyDeleteAND now I hope you’re home and relaxing... I’d not sleeping. I assume the pastry was packaged, but I can’t be too sure with you.
ReplyDeleteNot many Christmas lights here yet. Most people prefer to wait until after Thanksgiving to put them up. I have a small string of them on a shelf in my room. It makes me happy. I might get myself a tree for them. It's 4:00 am here. I went to bed early and now I'm awake. I may nap again before everyone gets up.
ReplyDeleteAccepting a French from a patient is plumbing the depths 😜
ReplyDelete#nightwatch. Enjoy the mid night peace. Rest Well
ReplyDeleteI well remember the long last hours of night shifts. Nice to have a pastry to enjoy and to know the sea is nearby.
ReplyDeleteWe're 90 miles from the Atlantic Ocean and it's 10:30a here. I suppose you're in blissful dreamland if the dogs are agreeable to that.
Hugs!
I used to work at a big hospital, I was an engineer, that meant I was the one to unplug toilets. Ok, I'm being snide. My talents are varied and I was often called on to fill in for others. 11 to 7 in the morning was my most difficult shift. I could do it but it was so tough to stay awake. Lonely hours in the cavernous building, while sick and dying people slept or tried to sleep. Hard to find anything to do at that hour. Most projects took place in the daytime. Graveyard shift it was called and I understand why.
ReplyDeleteHi from us, two of your silent friends in Texas, USA. Dimi just got up, I made his coffee already.
:)
Tom
You won't hear waves if the sea is calm and/ or it's a quiet low tide. Or if there is a landbreeze. I live right on the oceanfront and rarely hear the waves. The scent varies but yes, often is there.
ReplyDeleteA pastry stuck for hours in one's pocket sounds not very nice? Did you sit on it?
lizzy
It all seems a little surreal,but in a pleasant way and your awareness of the sea,a gift some may not have even noticed.I don't sleep well especially since my beloved top dog was put to sleep 18 months ago.Often not until 2am -3.30am.Then only dozing on the sofa,I may go upstairs to bed 6am until 8am.The early hours of this morning I was 'on'my I pad and had to look twice and saw a shape of my top dog.I didn't want to frighten him away,even though he was a tough un,I continued with what I was doing and looked again.He was there for a while and then I dropped off to sleep after crying.I think he was there Friday too but I tried to dismiss my thoughts.My mum and dad both had seen spirits x
ReplyDeleteI still see my beloved pug who passed away ten years ago now. Sometimes just in the the corner of my eye, but I have also truly seen him, thinking he was my current dog--I silently scolded, "Why are you out of bed? You were all tucked in!" and then find my new pug still asleep under his blankie. They are with us, our love makes them visible sometimes.
DeleteOh that's lovely Lizzy D.Thankyou for posting this because sometimes think I may be a bit crazy(well I am a bit perhaps) but I don't think so about this x
DeleteIn the sixties, my aunt had her appendix removed, and the NHS sent her to a respite home in Llandudno for three weeks. I remember visiting her, and looking out over the sea, and smelling the salty air, and thinking what a lovely place to recover.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it's the same place ?
Night work is a whole different animal than daytime hours.
Hope you are sleeping soundly.
Hugs,
~Jo
I'd like to be that close to the sea.
ReplyDeleteAs a student I worked nights.To keep awake I used to clean the entire kitchen on the floor.
ReplyDeleteYou are acclimating to real life, John. It's lovely. You're lovely.
ReplyDeleteI think if the first breath of your life is of sea air one is inclined to languish without it. I grew up by the Atlantic, now live on the Pacific, each have their own smell. My family scoff but what do they know, they grew up on the prairies. I asked a Scandinavian expat and he emphatically agreed.
ReplyDeleteStanding on the prom in Llandudno, or the concrete walkway on West Shore and seeing the sea but not hearing even the quietest lap can be an eerie experience, especially in the dark.
ReplyDeleteBut as you say the twinkly lights along the prom do look amazing every year … but it's like a ghost town after the Friday and Saturday night cavortings are over :-)