Some call it the bewitching hour

Daily writing practice prompt for Tuesday, June 23, 2009 is “Write about an hour of the day.”

Midnight, twenty-four hundred hours, some call it the bewitching hour or the witching hour. For me it's just another digit on the clock in another sleepless night. Perhaps I don't need a lot of sleep, maybe it's an age thing. After all, I'm 62 years old and I'm not getting any younger, sometimes I'm not sure that I'm getting older, but I do know I'm not getting younger.

Grandma Newland did housework when she couldn't sleep. She would get up in the middle of the night and mop the floor. Sometimes she cleaned the bathroom or the kitchen, but she never lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Normally, I don't lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Often I get up and work at the computer.

Sometimes I lay in bed and stare out the window counting the time Metro's helicopter flies over the neighborhood. Sometimes I check the front door, the sliding door, or go outside to make sure the car doors are locked. Usually I get up and work at the computer, all though I have been know to wash dishes or mop a floor, but those are rare occasions.

Lately I've been saying prayers. I open my prayer book and read the evening prayers. I also read the Long Healing Prayer revealed by Baha'u'llah. I like that to read that prayer, especially on night I can't sleep.