August 28, 2000
DOWN HOME:
Here's a little-known fact from the annals of history
___Back in the old days, we never got enough sleep.
___When Lindsay and Molly were little, a "good night's sleep" seemed like the idea for some fantasy show.
___I remember when Lindsay was a baby, and she would not sleep all the night through. Since we were inexperienced parents, Joanna and I had less will power than our 15-pound infant. Man, that hurt.
___Three years later, we figured out how to get Molly to sleep all night. But she could beat the roosters up in the morning. No matter how late we were up, she'd wake up by 6 a.m., bright and happy and ready for a new day.
MARV KNOX
Editor
___If you looked "terminal tiredness" up on the dictionary, you'd see a picture of Jo and me, bags under our eyes.
___Well, the great news about the teenage years is kids can sleep. They actually want to sleep. And they don't mind if you sleep, because they know if you're asleep, you're not likely to be telling them to get up and start a new day, go to school, get after the chores or get ready for church.
___Problem is, we've got a dog. And we can kiss sleeping late goodbye.
___It hasn't always been like this. But it's gotten worse lately.
___Betsy soon will be 9 years old. That's 63 in dog years. You'd think a middle-aged dog would want to sleep. You'd be wrong.
___I think I know why. Ask almost any middle-aged person why he or she has to get up early on Saturday morning, and you'll get one reason: The persistent, urgent, painful call of nature.
___Although Betsy can't speak English, I'm sure she's a victim of this middle-age malady. That's because as soon as she gets out of her cage in the morning, she runs to the back door.
___The difference between a middle-aged person and a middle-aged dog is that a person can compartmentalize. In other words, go back to bed.
___But Betsy doesn't want to go back to bed. She wants to eat. She wants to go outside and chase birds. She wants to be free of her cage.
___I've been trying to keep her quietly in her cage, and I realize I can squeeze a few more minutes out of my Saturday sleeping time if I refuse to make eye contact.
___When it comes to eye contact, Betsy's like a European driver. If you look her in the eyes, she wins. She won't stop whining. And although she's 63 in dog years, she has the iron will power of an infant her size. Which is to say, grownups are no match.
___The other day, while reading my Bible, I made an interesting theological discovery: The Old Testament book of Joshua (21:44) says that when the Children of Israel settled the Promised Land, "The Lord gave them rest on every side." And so, this proves the Israelites didn't take babies and dogs into Canaan.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!
