I gotta get me some night vision goggles.  We live on this canyon, you see.  Last night I was up as usual at midnight and heard something whining outside.  I listened intently – it almost sounded like the cat might be stuck in the closet.  I figured it maybe was a young coyote, but it didn’t have anything close to a “woof woof” which even young coyotes seem to be able to muster up.  Whatever it was, it sounded pathetic, like it needed to be rescued, like it needed its mommy.  I hate that.  I’m a mommy.  It bugs me that I’m so helpless when a little critter is crying for mommy.

After locating the cat inside the house, I went to bed.  The sliding door to the balcony on the master bedroom is open pretty much year round except when a “storm” rolls in during the winter.  This morning, about 4 a.m., I heard it again.  It sounded like a crow this time, three whines in a row each time, but without the harsh edge that a crow has.  It wasn’t a mockingbird – they are funny and never sing the same song twice in a row.  I finally had to get up and close the door.  It had begun to sound like an irritating alarm clock.

When I got to the door, it stopped.  It whined a few more times and was clearly not just in our back yard, but out in the canyon somewhere.  The whines were not three in a row, but just one at a time.  I gave up and closed the door.  I could still hear it muffled through the closed door, and then I heard an owl making owl-y noises nearby.

I wanted to just get up again and sleep on the balcony (I would have except that I haven’t been out there in awhile and the spider webs…) but I also wanted to get up and say “Can you all just pipe down out there?  I’m trying to get some sleep here!”

Then I didn’t hear the whiner anymore.  All so bizarre.  I never heard evidence of an animal murder out there, which is so common now that the coyotes are back.  Just that plaintive whine.  That stopped eventually.

I want to know what it was.  And I want night vision goggles.  Even if I couldn’t see what was whining, I could have seen the owl for sure, it was definitely right outside.  Of course I will NEVER get any sleep if those are in my stocking.

If there is a God, and I get to meet her someday, I’m going to complain bitterly about this whole sleep glitch that was wired into our bodies.  I hate sleep.  There is always so much going on, so much I have to do, so many little critters running around calling my name.  It is such a waste of time.

Nevertheless, it is a need, and tonight I am hoping my little fauna neighbors will give it a rest.