It's a lion!
Sleep deprivation, is a wonderful thing. Some of you may wonder, why there's something wrong with the DragonRider today, for she speaks nonsense! Indeed I am inclined to agree that few things in life give me as much pleasure as uninterrupted deep, dream filled slumber.
However, there are times when sleep deprivation has it's own pluses. I speak of course of the drug like effects that it can cause. I am willing to wager that no alcohol induced buzz, or nicotine inspired high can possibly beat the sweet sweet bliss of sleep deprivation. I say it because I have experienced this happy feeling of having no sleep myself on several occasions.
This incident, somehow related to sleep, is a retelling of occurrences that happened at my most recent (and first) visit to Jim Corbett National Park.
I must admit, I was very (VERY) excited to visit this national park. It is famed for its tigers, and other wildlife. The forest itself was said to be one of the most beautiful on this side of the earth. So of course the disappointment of us not managing to get a jeep to go around was palpable. Nevertheless, the promise of wildlife, so close at hand, and the beautiful forest in excellent weather (or so I thought) brought smiles to my face.
Oh! how wrong was I?! Let me tell you about the weather.
This was in mid-January. It was freezing. I had on a winter coat, a sweater and a tee shirt on. Then I had layered my pants with leggings to keep warm. Winter socks and thick shoes and a warm shawl with mittens completed my outfit. AND I STILL FROZE. A slight gust of wind was enough to chill me to my very toes, and wish I were dead. Dear God the cold... So much cold...
Now for the forest -
Imagine about 6.30 am in the morning. In the cold weather. In the middle of what has to be winter to poor old me. Well, you only need to see where is this going. It was dark, everything was varying shades of blue. So yeah that's the awesome landscape I was dreaming about. (To be fair it did get exceedingly beautiful as the day progressed.)
This potent combination of blues and cold and only spotting deer for the first half hour convinced my sleep deprived mind (one must remember that I had only slept for a total of about 5 hours over the course of 2 days) that it must sleep. And sleep immediately. And thus, I found myself - me who could never sleep unless the conditions were perfect - sleeping on the journey through this magical forest.
I lost all sense frequently and woke up with a jerk, to see more wilderness and more (goshdarned) deer. And thus behold my wonder, when I saw something shining and golden in the sunlight!! I peered through my sleepy eyes, and thought - why, that is a lion, that is. Never once thinking that perhaps this part of the forest couldn't possibly have... lions.
So there I was, in a quiet bus, standing up , half asleep - yelling loudly - Hey! There's a lion! H! Wake up! There's a lion!! LION! While a pair of wild boar were shimmering in the sun, their tiny hooves carrying them away from our path. This vision registered in my sleep addled brain only after a good few minutes of peering into the sunlit path with imaginary lions.
There were some people who looked at me thinking I was looking elsewhere, but were sadly let down. Thankfully I realized what it was (or rather my friends gently prompted me) and sat down embarrassed and vowed to never sleep on this journey again. (I promptly fell asleep in the next 5 minutes)
My friends (who I woke up rudely) however, will never let me forget the "lions" I saw.
TL DR; It was cold, I mistook wild boar for lions.
Until next time,
DragonRider
However, there are times when sleep deprivation has it's own pluses. I speak of course of the drug like effects that it can cause. I am willing to wager that no alcohol induced buzz, or nicotine inspired high can possibly beat the sweet sweet bliss of sleep deprivation. I say it because I have experienced this happy feeling of having no sleep myself on several occasions.
This incident, somehow related to sleep, is a retelling of occurrences that happened at my most recent (and first) visit to Jim Corbett National Park.
I must admit, I was very (VERY) excited to visit this national park. It is famed for its tigers, and other wildlife. The forest itself was said to be one of the most beautiful on this side of the earth. So of course the disappointment of us not managing to get a jeep to go around was palpable. Nevertheless, the promise of wildlife, so close at hand, and the beautiful forest in excellent weather (or so I thought) brought smiles to my face.
Oh! how wrong was I?! Let me tell you about the weather.
This was in mid-January. It was freezing. I had on a winter coat, a sweater and a tee shirt on. Then I had layered my pants with leggings to keep warm. Winter socks and thick shoes and a warm shawl with mittens completed my outfit. AND I STILL FROZE. A slight gust of wind was enough to chill me to my very toes, and wish I were dead. Dear God the cold... So much cold...
Now for the forest -
Imagine about 6.30 am in the morning. In the cold weather. In the middle of what has to be winter to poor old me. Well, you only need to see where is this going. It was dark, everything was varying shades of blue. So yeah that's the awesome landscape I was dreaming about. (To be fair it did get exceedingly beautiful as the day progressed.)
This potent combination of blues and cold and only spotting deer for the first half hour convinced my sleep deprived mind (one must remember that I had only slept for a total of about 5 hours over the course of 2 days) that it must sleep. And sleep immediately. And thus, I found myself - me who could never sleep unless the conditions were perfect - sleeping on the journey through this magical forest.
I lost all sense frequently and woke up with a jerk, to see more wilderness and more (goshdarned) deer. And thus behold my wonder, when I saw something shining and golden in the sunlight!! I peered through my sleepy eyes, and thought - why, that is a lion, that is. Never once thinking that perhaps this part of the forest couldn't possibly have... lions.
So there I was, in a quiet bus, standing up , half asleep - yelling loudly - Hey! There's a lion! H! Wake up! There's a lion!! LION! While a pair of wild boar were shimmering in the sun, their tiny hooves carrying them away from our path. This vision registered in my sleep addled brain only after a good few minutes of peering into the sunlit path with imaginary lions.
There were some people who looked at me thinking I was looking elsewhere, but were sadly let down. Thankfully I realized what it was (or rather my friends gently prompted me) and sat down embarrassed and vowed to never sleep on this journey again. (I promptly fell asleep in the next 5 minutes)
My friends (who I woke up rudely) however, will never let me forget the "lions" I saw.
TL DR; It was cold, I mistook wild boar for lions.
Until next time,
DragonRider
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