2009-04-11 Because of the crazy amount of noise generated by the frogs and birds I didn't sleep very well for part of last night. But eventually I hit REM, and then something grabbed me by my feet and tried to drag me out of the hammock. Fortunately I realized very quickly that this was a dream. But something was still poking at me through the canvas of the hammock. It was more of a probing poke, but by something big. So I wanted it to go away. I tried to yell and punch at it but my body wouldn't respond. The poking (or was it tasting) continued. Then, suddenly, I really did wake up, and all was still. This is the second time this has happened to me (sans feet grabbing) this trip. It is a phenomenon known as "old hag's syndrome", or more scientifically, "sleep paralysis". Basically the body suspends motor control while dreaming so you don't hurt yourself. Occasionally people wake up (or so), but can't move. This is often accompanied by the sensation that there is something near that shouldn't be there. I have actually heard folks attribute this to demons and other things, but it is nothing so sinister. Oddly enough, I was calm throughout the entire poking episode. I soon fell back to sleep only to be woken up again by somebody chanting, "Dave Dave Dave Dave..." This, of course, was audio pareidolia. I can now add dave-frogs to my frog collection, which includes squeek-frogs, chirp-frogs and clicker-frogs. Such a psychological night. The night never did get as cool as I had prepared for, and the day got pretty hot. I was also biking into the wind. Uphill. Yep, this part of Florida has quite a few hills. But it must have been less humid because my skin collected a glaze of salt. I passed a pile of abandoned motels. It was sort of erie. I bought a cheap tire pump at Walmart, just in case, only to realize later that I actually hadn't forgotten my good pump at the hotel. I had just packed it someplace it had no business being. Stupidly, I had torn the packaging off the new pump and thrown it away, so I doubt if I can return it. I am finally back in the land of cheap hotels. After pushing myself a little hard today, but mostly because I wanted to sort through my gear and shed some more dead weight, I stopped at a hotel. Forty a night! Woot! Maybe I can finally stop hemorrhaging cash.

me in my hammock abandoned motel turtle snake getting away Tallahassee