I'm so good at sleeping, I can do it with my eyes closed. (author unknown)

I could have slept all night
I could have slept all night
And still have slept some more
But it didn't take
I remained awake
And blithely walked the floor

I stayed awake all night last night, a feat I have not accomplished since my 20's. During that decade, sleepless nights were the result of hedonism as I partied my way into morning unconsciousness. Last night's touch of hell was brought on by a variation of mad cow disease - aging, or possibly PD. You see, I went to the lake and neglected to take my sleeping pills.

"Doesn't matter," I told myself, "You will drift off in a couple of hours. Everybody does."

No such luck. I lay in bed listening to "Coast to Coast", or whatever it is called now. That in itself should have knocked me out, but after lying awake for 5 hours, I finally gave up and put on an Ethan Hawke movie about vampires. I have to say, it was not too bad. Not an Oscar quality flick, not even close, but exciting enough to get me jazzed up. Ergo, I was deprived of any sleep.

Sometimes we are our own worst enemies!

What could have caused this fiasco. If I take one of those magic blue pills with the odd name of "Zopiclone", I have no problems sleeping for a good 5 - 6 hours. I googled "sleep deprivation" and found this little gem of information

People who suffer from Parkinson’s disease are usually left to deal with a range of symptoms that can make day-to-day tasks difficult. Among these, sleep — one of our most basic needs — can be disrupted and hard to achieve. Often, Parkinson’s patients have sleep problems that are caused by the disease itself, or are brought on by medicines used to treat or help the patient.

.... Following are some tips for Parkinson’s patients to promote more restful sleep.

1. Avoid stimulants such as caffeine within six hours of bed time.
2. Do not take long naps during the day, and participate in activities that keep you physically busy.
3. Avoid using your bedroom for activities other than sleeping, such as reading, watching television, or working.
4. Remedies such as a warm glass of milk, a massage, and an expression of affection might also help a Parkinson’s patient to sleep better. Also, a
5. hot shower or bath can be helpful in helping a patient to relax.

How do these apply to me?

1. I hate coffee and will not drink a coke after 2pm. Coke has been put on this planet to keep morpheus at bay.
2. I usually nap for 15 minutes each day. It is a necessary sin.
3. Are you kidding me! Doesn't everybody watch TV in bed?
4. A massage might be nice, but who is going to give it to me? An expression of affection? That is unlikely to relax me. A warm glass of milk? Right. That would just fill my bladder and ensure that at some point I would be required to trek to the water closet.
5. A warm bath? Sounds good but it is a losing strategy for me. I bathe first thing in the morning to wake up!

No the best thing for me is Zopiclone which, like the PD drugs, are my solace. The fact is, I like sleeping. It is a little touch of death without any commitment.

And now, at 9:21AM the next day, I am off to bed, knowing somewhere in the world it is bedtime.