Texas Nights

It should be noted that I am writing this several thousand feet in the air and in fact, this won't actually be posted until the vibrating tube – of which I am an inhabitant – lands. Needless to say, I'm in an airplane on my way to visit my parents in Arizona. The whole trip – thus far – has been enjoyable. Oh yes, we have had our share of bumps and bruises along the way but I have remained in high spirits; determined to enjoy myself.

By the way – and I point this out specifically due to the fact that it is more a rule (not necessarily) for the blog in its entirety and not necessarily for this blog post. Please feel free to comment on any and all grammar and spelling errors that I make; as I am trying to improve that avenue of my writing.

Thanks

-The Management

On with the show! I should start by saying that this post was meant for last week, however I became severely bogged down in issues varying from preparing for the trip to troubleshooting our ill-timed internet outage: see the previous blog post.

Last Tuesday, some friends and I went tubing on the Comal River. My friends – originally from Washington – had never been tubing and seeing as I currently have an abundance of time on my hands; I felt it was time to pop that cherry. After a great day of alcohol and water sports, Jeni and I retired early; around 9:30pmish.

I awoke around midnight on my own accord; surprisingly awake. It felt much earlier than it actually was and I was surprised to that the clock read 12:00am and not 3:30am. I laid in bed for awhile, trying to will my alcohol addled body to sleep, but for some reason, I wasn't having it. The flicker of my clock radio seemed to hypnotize me awake, and it took me a moment to realize that the flicker was not emanating from my clock radio.

The amazing thing about Texas – to me anyway – is the sky; that thing goes on forever. When they say: everything is bigger in Texas; they are talking specifically about the sky. When there is a lightning storm miles away, you can see it, like an approaching battle in the sky. Dare I say it is beautiful? Regardless, the flickering that was randomly catching my eye that night was not my clock radio, it was a thunderstorm in – I'm assuming Shertz – a town several miles away. That's when the scratching on the wall started.

All was quiet in the house, and as there had been no noise in quite a while the thunderous scratching behind my head had awoken Jeni.

"What the heck is that?" Jeni said out of unconsciousness.

I searched my brain for some kind of answer; for being as awake as I was, my brain was pretty useless (I'll chock that up to alcohol). I finally diagnosed – although I'm sure it was Jeni who actually solved the puzzle, painfully, I still can't quite remember – the problem: it was an extension cord we had hanging from the wall and although it had never moved before in a storm, now it had caught boogie fever.

I will admit to being a coward, I have never been known for my testicular fortitude as good ol' JR would say, and my mind was telling me to play it safe.

"That thunderstorm could turn at any point and leave you or Lily a crispy critter (Lily being our dog)," my mind cautioned matronly.

Caution aside, I knew that Jeni wouldn't sleep through it and if either of us would become toast, it would have to be me. I made my way to the backyard and followed the wall to the power outlet. Suddenly, the sky became alight with lightning; however it was still several miles away.

Houdini would have been impressed with the knot that fastened the extension cord to the power outlet, and with another look to the sky; I set to work. The job wasn't as invasive as I had originally expected and within about five minutes, I was back inside; warm and toasty under the covers. I was still unable to sleep, and with that the thunder started.

It should be noted that I am now safely back on the ground and it has been two days since my last transmission.

The thunder started quietly and seemed content to remain so, but for one crash that was preceded by a prolonged flash of lightening. This thunder clap was akin to a bomb exploding just outside our window; shaking the house and echoing for miles. Jeni awoke with a start; I – on the other hand – had come to enjoy my insomniatic solitude; was already awake. Lily – on the other hand – didn't stir; not an inch. Jeni quietly returned to sleep as the thunder quickly abated.

While lying there, my mind was working feverishly; not because I was worrying about anything, although I know I should be. No, I had an idea for my upcoming movie project (see previous entries); my problem was that I couldn't decide whether or not to try to continue to will myself to sleep or write it down.

Whenever I have an idea – no matter how great or small – and I am not in a position to write it down, I always put it off thinking that I will remember it and write it down later. This NEVER works, ever. I decided at that point, that this idea was too good to lose and set forth to write it down. Fortunately for me, my notebook was on my nightstand, a practice I plan to continue as most of my ideas come to me while I'm sleeping or in the shower. After 45 minutes of scribbling I had a rough layout of scene so simple to create and yet intricate in storytelling. Right now, I don't plan on relating it but eventually look forward to seeing it here.

The rest of the night involved me snuggling up on the couch by myself, falling asleep to O' Brother Where Art Thou; not because that movie is at all sleep inducing but more because the lack of action keeps the screen from flickering and I didn't want to wake anyone else in the house. And really, that's where my story for that night ends. Not that anything of real note happened during my several hours of insomnia; I just wanted to write it down, for posterity or whatever.