It’s 11pm. It’s 30 degrees on my windowsill. The cat is dripping off the couch like a Dali watch. I slept all afternoon, because of a short night, and woke up at 8.30pm.
Tomorrow I take my car and go to work. It feels a little unreal, because it’s so hot that Switzerland is turning into a tropical country, and I’m thinking of installing a ceiling fan, and mosquito nets, because even though mosquitoes aren’t a problem now, in a few years they will.
Caught in a mildly dystopian SF short story.
There is a warm breeze that sometimes makes it onto the balcony where I’m writing. Sometimes. Tonight I will sleep with the fan on.
On Wednesday morning I will flee to the chalet, where it’s 10 degrees cooler. I will work from up there. I will sleep. The cats won’t like the commute but I know they’ll appreciate the temperature change too.
The other day I was listening to the episode The Shipping Forecast on the 99% invisible podcast. I like this podcast because it’s super interesting, and also because (paradoxical, I know), I use it to go to sleep when I have a hard time falling asleep. I’m not alone (listen to the episode). It’s a bit annoying because I end up having to relisten to episodes I fell asleep to, but it works really well.
Seems many enjoy falling asleep to the sound of the shipping forecast. Roman Mars does a reading at the end of his episode, and indeed, I was almost asleep by the end. On this episode, he introduced us to Sleep With Me, a podcast designed on purpose to help people go to sleep. I’ve used it a few times and it’s wonderful. I can’t make head or tail of what Drew is talking about, but it works great. The added bonus is that I don’t feel bad about falling asleep in the middle of the story, as that’s what it’s designed for! From a storytelling point of view I’m fascinated by how meandering the narration is. All over the place, just like your brain when it wanders off before pulling the curtains for the night.
If you have trouble going to sleep, whether because of the heat or thoughts running around in your head, I definitely recommend trying it.
Also published on Medium.