GREAT READS → MUSINGS Issue 649 · February 22, 2017

It’s Never Too Late

The night-owl test is looking at the clock at 1:14 a.m. and see if you think, I’ve still got time to clean the kitchen

5 min read February 22, 2017

After the writer is done writing the scripts, they are often sent to a special workshop where they are closely checked by specialists. Those who check the verses are allowed to make tiny fixes, mainly if they feel a specific letter is not clear and may be confused by another letter. June 11, 2012. Photo by Dror Garti/Flash90.

The night-owl test is looking at the clock at 1:14 a.m. and see if you think, I’ve still got time to clean the kitchen

I t hurts when someone you love says something mean like “It’s time to wake up.” But my husband keeps doing it.

We’re opposites. At busy times — Tishrei Nissan and some Friday mornings — our paths cross in the bedroom; he’s getting up to daven k’vasikin and I’m turning in for a few hours of shut-eye. Whenever I’m awake before seven a.m. it’s because I haven’t gone to sleep yet. I live in a self-made time warp where night stretches on endlessly because tomorrow only starts when I wake up.

You may be a night owl too. The test is to look at the clock at 1:14 a.m. and see if you think I’ve still got time to clean the kitchen, sort the socks and catch up on e-mails.

There’s something so tantalizing about those hours of uninterrupted unpressured time. It’s definitely the best time to get stuff done. Not stuff like mowing the lawn but quiet artistic things. You can’t hurry the creation of a great recipe or a brilliant Purim costume. You need lots of time to tinker with it until it’s just right.