This morning I woke at 2:37, refreshed from more than eight hours of sleep. Ever since last November I’ve been on this schedule of going to sleep in the late afternoon and waking when most all the other prisoners sleep. Now I’m used to these hours. I really look forward to this time I can spend alone writing.
Another benefit of lying on my rack before six each evening is that I lessen my exposure to prison altercations. After the decades I have served, I’m rather skillful in avoiding trouble with other prisoners or staff, but while I’m lying on my rack I remove all possibility. At this stage of my confinement, staying away from disciplinary problems ranks high on my list of priorities.
Here in Taft Prison camp, where most of the prisoners are courteous and staff is less obtrusive than at any other prison where I’ve been held, I do not feel vulnerable to potential conflict at all. In fact I’m more at ease here than I’ve felt during the past 22 years. That raises the question of why I choose to sleep and wake so early.
Besides minimizing exposure to problems, this schedule gives me an exercise in will power. I like it. As a long-term prisoner I feel it necessary to assert control over aspects of my life, and forcing myself to abide by a self-imposed schedule provider the illusion that I sleep when I want, exercise when I want, and work when I want. The more time I can spend alone working on my writing projects, and the more I can avoid interference from prison complications, the more progress I feel that I’m making toward preparations for release.
This evening, unfortunately, I will not be able to sleep so early. We have a group of at-risk adolescents who are visiting TOAD, our youth outreach program for a presentation in the visiting room. The program is scheduled for two hours beginning at 5:00 PM, and that means I may not get to sleep until the ungodly hour of 8:00 PM. I spent the early part of my morning laying out our group’s presentation schedule. At 6:00 AM I ran 10 miles. This run brought my tally to 1,650 miles over the past 187 days.
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
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