Due to the fine evenings we decided to sleep out under the stars. No tents, no protection, just sleeping bags or blankets.  It is a little bit surreal just lying down under a thin layer of protection looking upwards at all the vastness and realizing that we cannot see 99.99% of what’s out there.

Twinkle, twinkle Little Star
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle, Little Star,
How I wonder what you are.

Lullaby or not, this rhyme does have a certain endearing quality. The only problem is that in mid-summer there is very little sky dark enough even in the so-called night to see much detail, and certainly on this occasion the stars did not twinkle. We saw one or two planes fly across at a great height with a barely perceptible  noise. Even slight sounds are amplified at night.

It is amazing how many noises there are in the garden in terms of movements, the cracking of twigs, rustling sounds. They are loud enough to make you jump or at least startle you. I would guess it’s pretty much impossible to get any sort of sleep in a jungle especially where many of the animals are nocturnal and each night is one big party.

I woke up at about 4 AM to find the blankets and exported pillow from the house wet with dew. It wouldn’t kill anyone but I didn’t feel comfortable with it so I retreated back into the house leaving Françoise to continue sleeping. In any event the sky was brightening so I knew I wasn’t going to achieve much further sleep so back into the bedroom, curtains closed, and into the arms of Morpheus again.

I would say the impact of sleeping out would be greatly enhanced in a country area where the stars would shine much brighter. At least the small excursion in our garden whetted my appetite for more.