The benefits of insomnia

For the past few weeks, sleeping at night has been fitful at best. Generally, here's what happens. I settle down with a book (and now, with a baseball game on TV in the background). I nod off while reading the book. I wake up. I nod off in the late innings. I wake up a little after midnight to a post-game show, infomercial or some other meaningless programming. I turn the TV off, and then struggle to get back to sleep, usually fading in and out in a restless rest until the morning comes.

Admittedly, this is not a great pattern, but it's probably not unusual. With persistent leg discomfort, it's difficult to get in a comfortable sleeping position. And with much less physical activity than normal, the usual sleep pattern gets disrupted. Like everything else in this tedious recovery process, this too shall pass.

On Friday night, I followed this basic pattern. However, my in-and-out insomnia allowed me to watch a fair amount of the Yankees-Red Sox game that went 19 innings and ended after 2 a.m. The Red Sox won the see-saw game, 6-5. It was one of the longest games in the history of both franchises. When it was done, there were probably a couple hundred people in the stands at Yankee Stadium and just a few diehards like me still watching on TV. So for one night, a fitful sleep had its benefits.