Early morning

[Father Bill]

It's fun to wake up early in the morning by yourself. For some reason I'd just had enough sleep and wasn't tired... so I got up. Later this morning I'll probably have a nap and fill in the rest of my night, but for now I'm not very sleepy.

I've petted the pup, who was incredibly excited to see me (fortunately, being a lab, her excitement is silent) fed her and had a breakfast of left over Chinese food from last evening. It's hardly traditional, but I love it, and then I settled in to re-read for the umpteenth time one of my favourite books of all time. The house and the world are still dark and Liesel is still snoozing upstairs.

Earlier, I walked out onto the deck with Tally (Talisker - the puppy-dog) and stood in the cold semi-dark for a moment. It was fine out because there isn't even a breath of a breeze, and the deck had both melted and dried yesterday so I didn't even need to put on shoes - my slippers were fine and I didn't need a jacket at all. I could watch the pup re-explore her domain out there before we both came back in.

It's supposed to snow again today, but frankly the melt yesterday took out not only the many inches that had fallen the day before, but the snowbanks had dropped so significantly that when I pull the car out of the lane I can once again see that the road is clear for most of a block in either direction without having to peer around the snowpiles.

It's nice to be here on my own for a short time. I normally need people all around me, and it's hard working out of the house on my own, but every once in a while I like a night-time look about.

Right now, despite any challenges, life is good.

[Creag]

I'm generally an early riser, unlike the ladies who seem like they could sleep 18 hours a day (yep, wife & daughter, no sons). I've always enjoyed the time for some quiet reflection, full enjoyment of my morning coffee, and often I get a number of small things done before the rest of the home is up and about.

It was particularly good when we took a vacation out to Zion, The Tetons, and Yellowstone a few years back. I love to hike around, but the ladies are not too keen on it. I was able to get up and get a good 2 or 3 hours walkabout on trails near to our lodging without missing breakfast with the family. And there was plenty of wildlife up and about, and few other humans.

[ForresterModern]

Ever since I was 8 and rising at 0530 every day to deliver more than 100 papers year round on my old stingray bike, I have been an early riser. In my youth I made up for it by going to bed at a decent time, but as I have aged and been put through various professional ringers with all night call coverages and such I have learned to live without much sleep, becoming the last to go to bed and still the first to rise (with no daytime naps). Up until about 9 years ago, when I went through a rough personal patch, I was only getting about 3 hours a night, spending the rest reading or watching late night or early morning telly (thank god for cable) and getting various small quiet tasks accomplished----like spending two years of early rising turning my collection of classic folk and rock and jazz and classical vinyl records into mp3 digital albums. Since the personal rough patch after my divorce I was put on regular night time sleeping medicine that has at least allowed me to go to bed at 11pm or so and rise at around 5 am, thus doubling my daily sleep, but taking a serious bite out of that time of the day when I could accomplish those little productive things. Rising early is most fun when you are NOT at home, and can get out on the water to wet a line at the break of dawn on a camping trip, watch the sun rise over the ocean while taking a very long stroll down a soft white beach, or rising to walk out onto the cabin porch to watch the world awaken around you, with the rippling creek carrying the low tones while site unseen avian species combine to carry the rest of the chorus, watching the deer return to their lowing, the turkeys tor their stoops, and the squirrels arise with their chatter. The benefit of getting away with needing so little sleep is that you also get to watch all the sunsets, and the glowing after sunsets, and the stars and moon come out, and the world slowly turning out its lights and the world going quiet except for the crickets and owls. It also feels like you are wringing the most out of the time you have, wasting little on the reparative sleep we all know se need---quite a balancing act.