I always find it hard to sleep in a new place.  Last night I was trying to sleep at an airport hotel.  The bed was comfortable but the room made strange noises.  I could hear the sound of water running through pipes.  I could hear the electrical hum.  I could hear the fans used for cooling.   All of these are sounds I can cope with but the mystery creaking disturbed my sleep.  It’s not regular or rhythmic and I still can’t work out what is causing it.  I can’t even tell what direction it’s coming from (though that does suggest that I’ve been sharing a room with multiple creaky things.)

I turned off the air conditioning at around 3am, in case it was the culprit, but now the room is just hot and creaky.

I wasn’t sure what to expect of the firework display in Pittsburgh on the 4th but it didn’t disappoint. It was loud, brash, and completely over the top.  Thirty minutes of firework mayhem that lit up the sky over the city.

Watching the Sky Light Up