Not Wee Enough Yet

Dearest Rachel –

I’ve heard it said that, when you travel long distances, it takes a day to recover for every hour in time change that you make. I personally think that’s overstating things, as that would mean that by the time we were adjusting to the time in Israel, we would be pretty much down to our last full day. I’m just not sure that I could except that conclusion.

That having been said, I agree that one doesn’t manage to adjust instantaneously. Indeed, I always had to use my alarm in order to be up in time, something I’ve not had to do much of since retiring (apart from certain Sunday mornings when I’m in the booth – I’d mention Saturdays, too, but I’m as likely to wake up organically for those these days as not). So clearly, I never quite had a handle on the time schedule over there. That, or the days just started too darn early for my tastes, which isn’t outside of the realm of possibility.

Now that we’ve just flown home, the same rule applies as well. Theoretically, I’m not going to have my internal clock aligned with the local world outside until December begins. That sounds absurd – and as Daniel and I made in through yesterday with what appeared to be no incident, I was willing to chalk it up as an exaggeration.

Except, in the wee hours of the morning, I found myself, not wide awake, but awake enough to not be able to fall back to sleep. Maybe it was the constant sound of the fan motor of the space heater – not to mention the fact that it was still uncomfortably warm in the room. Granted, by the time I was leaving for the ‘office’ this morning, it had fallen back to just a little over 70 degrees, so I’m not sure what to do about it at this point. Maybe it was the letter I felt compelled to write you about; some things just bug me until I get them written down (and to be honest, this may bug me until such time as I actually get a chance to talk them over with the people in question – which is to say, they may never go away).

Or maybe my body really does still think it’s almost noon, when the clock (and the dark night sky) keeps insisting that it’s four in the morning. These are supposed to be the wee hours of the morning, but I guess that, to my body and mind, they aren’t wee enough yet.

Anyway, I tried to deal with it by writing to you, and at least that’s one task for the day accomplished, even before getting out of bed, so that’s something. But I couldn’t find it in me, once I’d exorcised that little demon in my head, to lay back down and literally ‘give it a rest.’

I finally gave up and got up to start my day a little after six. It would have been par for the course, back when I was still working, but it doesn’t seem right for a day like today, especially when there isn’t anything pressing for me to deal with.

Still, I figured I ought to keep you up to date with what’s been happening, such as it is. I’ll catch you up if anything further materializes. Until then, keep an eye on us, honey, and wish us luck. We’re going to need it.