But as frustrating as it can be to wander the house wide-eyed as my wife and kids slumber peacefully in their beds, these moments of silence can be wonderfully enriching. They're great opportunities to read and reflect and sometimes just blankly stare at the wall. You might say they are gifts to be treasured, coming as they do before and after the flurry of email, the family's mad scramble to get ready for whatever it is we're doing, and the noisy routine of life.
Would I rather be sleeping in these odd hours? Absolutely. But since that doesn't happen as much as I'd like, I'll take solace in these fleeting slivers of solitude and try to use them to my advantage.
"Let us be silent, that we may hear the whispers of the gods," said Ralph Waldo Emerson.