I am not a big fan of window treatments – curtains, sheers, drapes, valances, swags, I could do without them. We have no regular windows in our apartment, just skylights with no window treatments. I figured it’s the top floor and nobody can see us or maybe I’ve got some Amish blood in me. No window treatments makes for a light and bright apartment and a clean, modern look. It also makes for a boiling hot apartment in the summer and it makes it impossible to sleep in past dawn, but whatever, it looks nice.
We do have some curtains in our house in the village though, but just on the ground floor. They are only to block out the direct observation of our neighbors. Our next door neighbors like to hide behind their lacy sheers and observe the world. I think that they think we cannot see them, but we can. The neighbors opposite us had minimal window treatments until we told them that we can see what they are watching on TV reflected in the mirror over their sofa visible through their kitchen window, seen through our kitchen window. That’s how our girls checked if their son was up in the morning and ready to play. If there are cartoons on the TV/mirror, he must be up.
My parents have a bit more fancy, smancy window treatments. They like drapes. I was always against heavy drapes but now I see the benefit of them. In my old room which my parents have outfitted with not only drapes but also blinds, one can achieve complete darkness. The kind of darkness that when you wake up and look at the clock you’re not sure if it is a.m. or p.m. The kind of darkness that makes for an excellent night’s sleep. The kind of sleep I have been lacking for about the last 10 years. Except for one thing - my father. My father who goes to sleep with the chickens and gets up before dawn – about 4:45 to be exact - every single day. He gets up every day and goes to one of the two kitchens in the house and makes a lot of noise – not the kitchen far away from where we sleep, no, but the main kitchen a few feet away from my door. He, of course, cannot hear the noise that he makes nor does he notice or care that everyone has been woken up. I envy my father one thing though, the ability to fall back asleep. You see I have been woken up before 5 a.m. now the last 5 days now and I’m about to lose it.
I feel that I do my part as a houseguest. I am quiet and polite. I keep my children quiet and polite. I don’t interfere with the hosts’ routines (even the early bird activity) and I help out around the house. That’s the least I can do considering I am staying at virtually no cost to me. Having said that though, I would really like to sleep, to put my head down on the pillow when it suits me and to wake up when I am done sleeping. Is that too much to ask?
