A New Reason To Be Obsessed....

So, I have discovered a new reason to be obsessed. And it is all thanks to my (nearly) ever-present insomnia.

I have been having trouble sleeping. As those who have read this blog for a long time will know, this is nothing new. But, after Franz and his wonderful brother put in our new home theater, I have had the chance to watch some channels we did not have before. Among them are some amazing high definition (HD) channels.

About 4am a few weeks ago, I discovered a show called "Sunrise Earth". The description on the info section of the TV Guide said "examining the natural phenomena of the Earth." I thought it was going to be a show about scientific research on tides, volcanos, earthquakes, etc. The title of the first one I saw was "Sunrise Earth: Edge of the Atlantic". So, I figured, "maybe they will be talking about the differences between the Atlantic and the other oceans of the world. That sounds interesting, I don't know what the differences are... could be neat to learn more about that."

How wrong I was! This show is unlike anything else I have ever seen. They simply take a few cameras, the kind that film in high definition, and set them up at various locations throughout the world. This one was a shoreline in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. And from each of these locations, they just film the sunrise. They got shots of a little harbor seal swimming around in the waves, hunting for food. A cute little snail crawling across a dewy leaf. The amazingly loud waves breaking on the smooth tilt of the beach. Even some crazy guy out surfing in the storm. All of this was completely silent... no sounds of human interference. Only the actual natural sounds of the waves, the wind, etc. I have since recorded a few of these shows, and each of them is just about the morning in a different place. The dawn at a manatee spring. The morning on the coast of Californina where there is a seal colony. A place where terns nest. The Everglades. A solar eclipse just after sunrise.

There is something about each one of these shows that is so soothing. The Atlantic one puts me to sleep almost every time by the end of it. I am going to be getting at least 6 of them together and make a tape of natural sights and sounds. And then I am going to play it whenever I can't sleep.

I imagine the tape will never leave the VCR.

Love to all,

Sherry