There is a line in the last Harry Potter book that I love.  It is in the scene where Harry is facing his death and the people that have already died are walking with him for comfort and courage.  He asks his mother is it hard to die? and her answer is the line I love:  "dying is easier than falling asleep".  I thought of that last night when I woke up about 2:00 and couldn't get back to sleep.

Daddy had insomnia.  Some mornings he would complain about trouble sleeping and he would say with admiration and envy, "your mother falls asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow."  I probably had trouble sleeping because I go to bed so early...right after Wheel of Fortune, unless it is a Seinfeld I really love.  Timmy and I listen to books on tape.  Afer listening to all the Harry Potter books at least twice, we tried some other books.  No luck.  Even Garrison Kellor, who Timmy loves, read too fast.  New York Times book review reviewed audio books and they commented  that a good reader can make even a bad book enjoyable, and a bad reader can ruin the best book ever written.  Jim Dale reads Harry Potter, so I looked to see he he has done other books and that is how I found our current nighttime listening - Peter and the Starcatchers.  This series is written by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.  The story is familiar, a twist on Peter Pan, but what makes it so special is the reading by Jim Dale.  He does the lost boys, Peter, Molly (who will be Wendy's mother in the one we got today), the pirates, Smee especially good, and the Mollusk tribe people.  Also, of course Tinkerbell and the mermaids, who turned vicious in the second or third book.

Listening to a story being read to you, lying under a goose comforter on these cold nights and drinking my nightly ritual of fundador all leads to a fast deep sleep - almost as soon as the CD ends.  But last night was a tosser, partly due to knees that need an injection of roster comb or the fact that we didn't have the reading.  Peter and the Sword of Mercy had not yet arrived at the Tivoli Library and I had handed in the Peter adventure in Rundoon.  Or maybe it's just the season, so much to think about.  When I was five and we moved into 17 Falconer Street I shared a bed with my older sister Barbara,  in fact we slept together until the night she got married.  Anyway, one night I couldn't sleep and Barbara, probably fed up from listening to me, said, "just close your eyes.  That is as good as sleeping."   Well, today I know that is not true, but it is still good advice.  Sooner or later, closing your eyes, you will sleep - and have the opportunity to complain in the morning, how I didn't get to close my eyes all night.