The long dark nights begin

After all the good physical work and the wine and the food and the film sleep would evade me again. I have been subject to the most pernicious insomnia since I arrived and it has only worsened. I spent the night reading in bed unable to put my mind to rest. It was very cold and the sheets were not enough. I walked the Estancia under the moonlight in the cold dewy air. Waited for the sunrise and decided I needed to return to Buenos Aires and get to work. A little after dawn the maids came into the main house to clean up our mess. I had kept the fire going and was laying on the counch with the dogs amid my legs and just below the sofa. I asked for someone to give me a ride to where one can catch a "micro"- a bus - back to Buenos Aires. After awhile, a nice sweet and round-faced young man offered to drive me the 70 kilometers to the town of Azul.