Insomnia isn’t what you probably think it is. It isn’t going to bed in the late evening and trying to sleep but failing. Well, it may be that for some folks, but for me insomnia is waking up at 2:00 AM and then not being able to get back to sleep for another three hours.

Having insomnia does not mean I will be falling back to sleep at about 5:00 and then sleeping soundly until 8:00 or 9:00. It means I will be going back to bed at about 5:00 and then being woken up repeatedly by any sound. I can be woken by loud rain drops, or by the window blind in the breeze tapping the window frame, or by my phone in another room pinging the receipt of an email, or by my own snoring. In those hours, almost any sound can awaken me.

I have various remedies that work sometimes, but not all the time. I use them when I haven’t had a good sleep for several days, but mostly I just let the insomnia keep me awake. This may sound illogical, but not when you realize there are advantages to wakefulness. Primarily, insomnia gives me two or three hours of silence all to myself. I usually read, always play word games, sometimes sketch, occasionally walk along the waterfront and, during these early summer days, I regularly enjoy watching the sunrise.

Photographers call the last hour of daylight “the golden hour,” but for me the best hour is the hour before daybreak. I feel as though it is my own little secret personal time. I used to feel grumpy about it because I lacked sleep and that made me lethargic. Now, though, I don’t mind it so much. Quite often it is the best time of my day.

I have learned not to make appointments in the early mornings if I can avoid them, and I put my phone on “Do Not Disturb” so often I forget to let it disturb me again. Those middle-of-the-night hours often matter more to me than do the regular working day hours. I’m not failing to sleep . . . I’m IN SOMe NIght Action.

Please enjoy this slide show of some of the many, many photos I have taken during the early morning hours over the last couple of years. I recommend full-screen viewing.