No, it wasn't the rain on the windows. I didn't even notice the rain, even though it was positively pouring outside. And yes, I'm one of those people who LOVES sleeping when it is raining. To me, rain is God, saying, "Sarah, you seem tired. You should take a nap."
The sound was actually an absence of sound. The sound I heard, one I haven't heard at night for almost two months, was the glorious sound of my air conditioner shutting off.
I have literally not heard that in AGES. And it keeps me awake!
Now wait a minute, Sarah, you might think... Who doesn't love a little white noise?
Well, I do. Believe me. I love sleeping to rain, remember? But with bills the way they are, and heat the way it is, and my poor sweet little air conditioner working its heart out every night, striving for a comfortable sleeping temperature for me but never edging below 80 degrees.... well, the air conditioner is no longer a soothing sound.
Especially when you're trying to sleep and you're seeing visions of an evil electric bill dancing in your head.
ESPECIALLY when you're seeing those visions and your house is a swampy 80 degrees.
It took me awhile to realize that I wasn't just sleeping past the momentary breaks in my A/C's struggles. But after nights of listening, I finally determined that my A/C was, in fact, never, in my eight hours of shut-eye, getting any shut-eye itself. Thus, the sound that was once white noise became worse than a smoke alarm with a failing battery, or a baby just on verge of waking, or that pesky alarm, still somehow going off after being sent into "snooze" a dozen times (Doesn't it get the point by now? I don't want to get up!)
So. Last night... it wasn't the rain. It wasn't the thunder. It was the absolute, sudden silence of my A/c taking a break; then, instead of restarting moments later, extending that break into a little nap; then, actually turning that into a full siesta. It didn't even bother me a half hour or so later when the A/c flipped back on, happily chugging away, because somehow, it actually sounded cheerful. Rested. I could almost hear the tune of "Whistle While You Work" in it's whooshing of air, and as I slept, images of pickaxe-toting dwarves danced in my head.
Rain, I appreciate you every time I sleep, be it naptime or nighttime. But today, I thank you for another reason. I thank you for the rest for my air conditioner... the possibility of a thinner electric bill.... the equal possibility of a thicker wallet.... and most importantly, for sleeping beautifully through the night and waking to a home with a resting A/c unit and a blissful temperature of 72 degrees.
Thanks, rain.
