Granted, I’m a bit nervous abut my finances since happily quitting my job a few weeks ago.

Is this the cause of sleeping poorly, waking at 2 a.m. and again before the sun comes up?

I used to sleep like a rock. During our two months in Southwest Harbor, from late May to late July, it was too gorgeous to sleep. Lilac-strewn curtains started dancing to the breeze at sunrise. Lobster boats putt-putted by. Birds chirped in the field behind my house by the sea.

I cheated. These lobster boats are at the Ilesford Co-op, not behind my house. But they look the same.

When I returned to Tucson three weeks ago I figured that waking up in the middle of the night was due to the time change. I was still on East Coast time.

But after three weeks, what’s going on?

My dear friend Phyl, who retired from teaching at the University of Maine two years ago, tells me I’m going through a tremendous life transition. I suppose that’s true.

Life transition: I’m sailing into the sunset but hoping for many more.

I think that excitement and anxiety are flip sides of the same coin. So here’s the question: When I wake up in the middle of the night, am I excited or anxious, or both? I feel excited about new possibilities.

Querying stories about subjects that I choose as a freelance writer — to publications near and far — is such fun.

Still, I imagine anxiety lurking.

But dang, I feel so happy. It’s a good thing I stopped having to go to work. I now have time for naps.