At 97, getting to sleep can be a complicated affair (Letters, 16 February). I greet my first God, Jehovah, with a little prayer, then say “hello” to Allah followed by my Hindu friend, and finally turn to Buddha before counting to 100, doing relaxation exercises. Turning from my right to left side, I start all over again.
Somehow, I must sleep because I wake up in the early hours to relieve myself. And bingo, returning to bed I think back to the good days when I was 20. Getting up to shower is an effort that is manageable between 8am and 10am. And the day begins.
Gabriel Aitman
Northwood, London
• When I have trouble getting to sleep, or actually more often getting back to sleep after having had to go to the loo at around 3am, I have tried to develop a strategy (counting anything has never worked for me) whereby I have to use all the letters in the alphabet for lists in a particular category. Capital cities, English football clubs (I do ignore X and Z, but thank you QPR). The single-word names of pop groups (ie Abba) work, but not the Beatles.
However, here’s the thing about the Beatles. I’ve tried to recall A-Z Beatles songs (here I use every word in the title) repeatedly over the years. There is no V. Maybe Lennon and McCartney knew and kept a song back? I have had to watch every second of the eight hours of Get Back through the night for clues – a hard day’s night indeed. Help!
Frank Newhofer
Oxford
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