sleep and walking

Today I'm wanting one of those fancy sunrise simulator alarm clocks that tweet like birds and slowly get brighter until you wake to find yourself in a bright dawn. I feel sleepy when I get up in the morning, and it may be due to the 8 long months of rain and clouds, with an 8am sunrise and a 3pm sunset. It may be that I don't exercise enough, or eat right, or go to bed early enough, but I like that I could buy a new lamp and attack the problem that way.

Technology is fun, and I like the idea of waking up to a pretty glow (and don't forget the chirping birds!).

In another vein, and I apologize if the two veins are slightly un-related:

Last night I watched a movie about a group of Gulag prisoners (the Gulags were forced labor camps set up by the Soviets from 1930-1955 where millions upon millions of people died) who escaped and then walked 4,000 miles to freedom across the Gobi Desert and through the Himalayas.

It amazes me the lengths to which people will go to find freedom. Their trek was nothing if not awful, crossing some of the most inhospitable terrain on foot. They arrived with less than half of the number they escaped with, but they kept on walking until they were out of the shadow of their Communist captors.

The movie led me to thinking about our prison systems, war, and politics in general and now I'm sleepy again. I wish I had my sun-simulator.