Sunday, October 28, 2007

The Trip - Staying Awake

You know how sometimes the neighbor's dog gets outside in the middle of the night and starts barking and won't quit, and you can't get to sleep? It's like that, except it isn't a dog.

We're in Northern Virginia, on our way to see my aunt in North Carolina. I started hearing a noise and thought it could be the baying of a dog or two. Or maybe wolves. It wasn't coyotes, because they yip more and don't have the same long, drawn-out, deep notes that these creatures have.

And then I thought about Halloween coming up. Maybe someone is having a Halloween party (on a Sunday night?) and their scary soundtrack is playing too loud too late at night. But that didn't quite sound right. No cackling to break up the sameness of the sound.

It wasn't a party, though. I finally identified the noise. Someone's cows are most unhappy. Did the farmer forget to milk them tonight? Are his neighbors checking up on him to be sure he didn't have a heart attack this afternoon? Or do they do this every night? I wouldn't know. I'm mostly a city girl.

It's after midnight, and the cows won't shut up.

A barking dog might be better than this...

1 comment:

Bekah said...

Though I've never heard unhappy cows protesting - I think I'll stick with sirens and the occasional backfire/gunshot/firecracker sounds that keep me awake.