Not Exactly Longfellow

The Word(s) of the Day: rhinitis and sinusitis

rhi·ni·tis-/raɪˈnaɪtɪs/ Show Spelled[rahy-nahy-tis]

–nounPathology. inflammation of the nose or its mucous membrane

si·nus·i·tis-[sahy-nuh-sahy-tis]

/ˌsaɪnəˈsaɪtɪs

–nounPathology.

inflammation of a sinus or the sinuses.

Either or both of these conditions could possibly be the cause of my current fatigue. You see,
I've got my own version of Longfellow's, Paul Revere's Ride, going on. You know the saying, "One if by land and two if by sea". Well in my version it's, "One in my ear, and two at my feet!" I'm referring of course, to my one husband who snores, and my two dogs, who insist on waking me (the only one who can be awakened) to go outside and howl at night creatures, the moon, or very possibly their own shadows. So in words rivaling those of Longfellow himself....well maybe not, but at least in his rhyming pattern, I say:

Listen my children and you shall hear

Of the midnight snoring of one I hold dear,

On the eleventh of April, in Twenty-ten;

Hardly a woman can ever begin,

To sleep through the racket, or so I fear.

I’ve said to my friends, "If Scott’s
 nose
is stopped up to-night,

and the dogs scratch to go out

to bark in the moonlight--

One in my ear, and two at my feet;

with such a commotion, sleep cannot compete.

So I in the opposite bedroom will be,

hoping to sleep past two or three,

For the good of all who tomorrow I’ll see."

Now to be fair, I've been told I snore too. I suppose it's true, BUT, I rarely, if ever awaken anyone. Maybe it's the mother thing - light sleeping - because I used to be able to sleep through anything. I used to say, "A Kansas tornado could go through my bedroom and I could sleep right through it!", but not anymore. Now, a pin drops, on the carpet, in the far bedroom, in the basement, of my sister's house, and I jerk up and think, "What was that?"

I guess the only solution to our problem, short of hearing loss on my part, or sinus surgery for my husband is:
So he said "Good-night!" and with a slam of the door
jumped in his car and drove to the store,
Just as the moon rose over the hay,
Breathe-Right Strips might save the day
If not curing the problem, at least muffling the roar!
But as for the dogs howling each night
at the moon or whatever else is in sight,
their noise, which each eve is magnified,
no doubt will help to keep me wide-eyed.
Disclaimer: Upon reading this my husband said, "Great writing dear, but I don't snore".