As I struggled to climb out of my warm bed this morning, a strange thought hit me.  Why can't people hibernate in the Winter?

I don't know about you, but it seems as though I get my best sleep this time of year.  Being the night-crawler that I am, I appreciate the few blessed hours I can get uninterrupted slumber.  I know what you may think, that I sleep a lot during the day, not true at all.  Despite finally getting to the land of nod about 3 or 4 a.m., I'm usually up by 9 or 10.  I seldom sleep 8 or more hours, if I do, I'm either genuinely sick or recovering from self-inflicted brain damage from consuming excessive amounts of alcohol.  But those two times don't happen all that often.  I'm one of those rare individuals who can survive on 4-6 hours of sleep a night.  But, medical research has proven that this is completely normal.

Mind you, it wasn't always considered to be that way.  There are still some "medical professionals" out there who think if you don't sleep an average of 8 hours a night you have some inherent mental problem.  I know, you're wondering how I discovered this...easy.  There was a time in my life in which I had to seek professional help for some problems.  And no, I'm not ashamed to say that yes, I've undergone therapy.  It actually helped me turn a critical corner in my mental and emotional development as a person.  The best part is that it truly affirmed that I'm a perfectly normal person, and my problems stemmed from previous physical and emotional trauma that I'd been subjected to when I was younger.  I won't bore you with the details, but suffice to say the sessions empowered me and affirmed that what happened to me wasn't my fault.  Unfortunately, sometimes bad things happen to good people.  But, I digress...

There's a part of me that wishes we had that bear-like mechanism in us that allows a body to sleep until the weather improves.  But then, we'd have to eat everything in sight for a few months to build up enough fatty deposits to sustain us during that long time of slumber.  After winning my personal battle with the bulge (I lost 45 pounds last year, and it was difficult, middle age), vanity would prevent me from doing that.  However, who would see you during that hibernation period?  And by the time you awoke from your suspended animation, those fat deposits would be long gone, absorbed by the body.  But then there's the problem of eliminating waste in your sleep. Hmmm, I wonder if, in that period of suspended animation, the body's mechanisms slow to the point you wouldn't have to worry about that bodliy function.  Do bears pee and poo while they hibernate?  People don't generally dig lying in that, gross.  Guess I'll be doing some online research on that topic, eh?

From a more realistic standpoint, there's no way I could afford to be away from the world that long.  Let's face it, career, family and other factors would be a huge obstacle.  And besides, who would pay the bills and deal with the daily necessities of basic living?  And I'm not exactly the kind of person who can be stationary for extended periods of time.  I'm pretty active nowadays, and sedentary behaviour isn't a part of who I am.  I gotta have something to do to keep my mind and body running like a finely-tuned machine, despite the high mileage.  So I suppose, weighing all the possible pros and cons, hibernation isn't a viable option for me.

Just another of the many nuggets of interesting trains of thought that run through my head, submitted for your perusal...Enjoy your week.