Elephants Upstairs

 

 

I need to thank the elephant who lives above me for serving up those lemons at 5:00 this morning. It felt like deja vu for a second; that's what time pain woke me yesterday, and I had a busy day so I didn't get a nap. I needed sleep and really didn't want to get up at 5:00 again this morning (or any morning).

When my body woke me earlier than I wanted on Monday, I used that extra time to write a letter, read a book, play games on the Kindle – quiet things because, even though I live alone, I live in an apartment. It felt natural to think that, until I heard my neighbors stirring around and leaving for school and work or wherever they go in the mornings, a considerate person would try to be quiet. And, I wanted to be considerate.

Consideration for neighbors apparently has never crossed the minds of my upstairs neighbors. I've tried sleeping in each of my two bedrooms, as well as on the couch, and no matter where I sleep or what hours of the day I try to sleep, one or both of the couple who live above me will wake me every couple of hours. It's an old building with squeaky hardwood floors, ancient furnaces and plumbing, and sticky doors, so I expect and understand a great deal of normal noises.

These people do not fit in any definition I would assign to normal noise.

Instead of just getting angry when she stomped her inconsiderate bladder to the bathroom and back at 5:00 this morning, and then stomped around the bedroom over my head for about five more minutes before returning to her squeaky bed, I decided to get up and turn those lemons into lemonade. I vacuumed - the bedroom floor, cobwebs in the corners, the ceiling fan, furniture, drapes, the drums . . . and, being the overgrown kid that I am, I couldn't move the drums without confirming that I still can't play them well.

And, then, I fell asleep around 9 p.m. and woke again at 2 a.m. I think I might nap for a couple of hours now before I resume my childhood obsession with practicing every part of Il travotore until I get one at least one of them close to tolerable.