w0rd.ca

I’m sitting at my computer and it’s 6AM; normally I’d be expecting to go to work in an hour or so, but this is a special time of year. It’s Christmastime, and that means I’m at home for the break; it means no schoolwork, minimal responsibility and the opportunity to stay up way later than I ever thought practical. The annual Demers winter hibernation means I’m in bed by the not-so-wee hours of the morning and up in the late (late!) afternoon. What started as a later-than-usual bedtime has now compounded on itself, inevitably snowballing to the point where I stay up so late I’ll go to bed on time (wait a minute…).

So far I’ve gone a couple days without seeing legitimate sunlight, as the harsh Canadian winter days darken around 4PM. I’ve procrastinated finishing that last little bit of Christmas shopping, as all the stores close around 6PM; around that time I’m either getting out of the shower or having my breakfast/dinner.

Maybe I should start treating it like an experiment and see if I can go full nocturnal. You know, it could be something to talk about when I introduce myself to people: “Oh, you’ve vegetarian? I’m nocturnal, myself. It’s more of a life choice than anything…”

Most grocery stores are open 24 hours, the Internet never sleeps and most of the events I have going on with my friends occur during my “morning”. To them, I just happen to be a little bit more chipper than usual; I mean, how are they supposed to know that because I don’t have deadlines or class, I have no reason to wake up? While I’m out in the wee hours, there’s no cars on the highway and even lesser people on the streets; besides the gurgling of resident street people, there’s almost a serene quiet to the dirty city at night. For those scant few hours, a city so focused on production and moving forward slows down to a crawl; it’s both surreal and calming at the same time.

So far I haven’t managed to raise the ire of my family during my evening adventures, so I doubt it would be much of a problem to them. Except, you know, the fact I’m supposed to be visiting them while I’m home.

Perhaps tonight’s the night for a hard reset. I mean, it’s already 6:17AM (at the time of typing), so why not? Maybe I’ll be able to talk with my Mom and Grandma tomorrow and not seem like a drowsy zombie. Maybe I’ll be able to eat cereal at the time it’s supposed to be eaten!

Hell, maybe I’ll be able to enjoy a city I’m slowly realizing has much more potential than I once thought. Maybe if light catches those steel foundries at just the right angle, that fleeting feeling that I might want to move back here after I graduate will grow.

So maybe seeing the sun isn’t so bad after all. See you in the morning.