2:00 AM and can't sleep

It’s almost 2:00 AM and I can’t sleep. It’s too quiet. I am used to the sound of the city; the sound of civilization. There are no ambulance sirens in the distance, no cacophony of car horns, no screaming drunk, and no familiarity. I don’t have the luxury of a booze induced sleep like the one the night before. There are only a few channels on the television, there is no internet access, and nothing else to do. That’s why it’s called a bed and breakfast. You go to bed and have breakfast the next day. That’s it. Sure it’s lovely and quaint, but quaint ain’t my style. That’s not how I roll yo.

I am listening to The Beetles “A Day in the Life” on my Ipod and I think about a day in the life of …well…me. I reflect on the day and it struck me how truly old The Kings Arms is. 1450. That’s 42 years before Christopher Columbus discovered the New World. That’s 326 years before America declared its independence. That’s 519 years before Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. That is FREAKIN’ old. In America you are a culinary success if you can keep a restaurant open at least five years. The food was good and it should be. After all they have had 556 years to learn to cook. The experience of the restaurant felt like somewhat of an English cliché. That doesn’t diminish the quality of the food or service, but it felt like living inside a poorly written screenplay. I sat next to the eon old stone fireplace. A glowing ember would occasionally pop to escape the confines of the hearth. A black cat came up and perched on the velvet bench in front of me. The feline balanced its time of staring at me and gazing into the fire. It finally became bored with both and curled up in the corner of the bench where it quickly fell asleep. The sweet earthy smell of carrots, parsnips, potatoes, and other root vegetables wafted from the kitchen. A gentleman wearing a waist apron brought a small board to our table to explain the menu du jour. I was just waiting for him to say “Alright Gov’nah?”