I love mornings, but I hate being awake for them. Mornings are by far the prettiest time of day—the light is right, the juice is loose (sorry, I was on a rhyming kick) and things move nice and slowly even when you try to rush them. I have always wished I was more of an early riser, because it is those young dawn hours that make me excited for the day to follow. But, of course, I love to sleep, and this creates a bit of a problem: I love mornings, but I really can’t be bothered to get up to enjoy them. And, when I do get up early, I generally feel exhausted, grouchy and groggy.
It’s Asa’s first week back to school. Since his classes start at the unreasonably early hour of 7:00 am, he gets up before sunrise to catch the shuttle to school at 6:10. But when I say “catch the shuttle,” I really mean “he’s missed it three out of four times this week.” So I drive him to school instead.
I don’t mind it, really, even though it’s 6:30 in the morning and I’ve left my brain in bed with my stuffed animals. I’ve had to get up this early before, of course—when I would open the coffee shop in Santa Fe I’d be up even earlier—but mornings aren’t enjoyable when you’re rushing to beat the traffic so you can open the doors on time to serve lattes for 8 hours on your feet without as much as a break.
Mornings are enjoyable, however, when you have the time to relish in their viscosity and afterwards crawl right back into bed. I won’t be able to do this forever—well, I hope I won’t, at any rate—with any luck I’ll find employment soon and I’ll be carting my own ass off to a job in the heinous hours of the morning.
But for now, it’s a nice break(fast). I love being awake enough to soak in the morning dew (there’s dew here! And I’ve been up early enough to notice it!), to see the light emerging from behind the trees and to breathe in the clear, cool, quiet air. The drive to his school is pleasant, despite its tiring timing—the road winds through foggy farmlands and twisty mountain turns and I rather enjoy having those 35 minutes to talk to him cogently before I start my day.
He left this morning at 6:09 to get to the shuttle stop. I crawled back under the covers and tried to fall asleep, but I knew what was going to happen, and I almost couldn’t wait.
At 6:17 I heard him at the front door.
At 6:28 we headed out to my car.
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Unrelated side note: The number one search term to reach my site is no longer you-would-know-what-if-you-had-read-this-post, but instead it is the phrase “used diesel Volkswagen,” which is a marked improvement from the last, if you ask me. Also an improvement is the search one visitor did a couple of days ago: “calling in sick” and “what to say.” I had no idea that my site provides advice to people looking for ways to play hookey, but, heck, I find it flattering that Google seems to think so.
16 responses so far ↓
1 jaki_o // Sep 29, 2005 at 8:19 am
I know what you mean about mornings. I actually like getting up and being at work early simply because it means going home early, and also there’s something about seeing the new day dawn that’s just nice. But most times, it’s nicer to snuggle in bed in the dark.
What excuse can I give my boss for not coming to work tomorrow? I need to know today so I can be prepared to call in…
2 zmftimelord // Sep 29, 2005 at 9:05 am
If only my students could write as well as you do about personal experiences…Ah, cynicism…
3 PhishChica // Sep 29, 2005 at 10:00 am
Ha, I’m the same way. I never want to get out of bed. It’s worse when I stay at the man’s, because there is no way I want to get up and leave for work. I’d rather stay snuggled in bed. How do you see what people searched for? I’ve got the xTracker thing, but it only does the referring site, which is pretty much “Read Your Subscriptions” for everyone.
4 Jay_galk25 // Sep 29, 2005 at 12:32 pm
Yeah sleeping in has become my new trend atm, either to avoid my family in any way possible, or just because I don’t want to have to get up and realize yet another day has passed.
Jay (The trouble is, your in love with someone else) “Rawr”
5 perfectsymmetry // Sep 29, 2005 at 1:07 pm
How do you know what search items reach your site? That’s quite curious. Or rather, I’m quite curious. Curious. Very funny word. Although, any word can be funny once said outloud over and over again. like…pillow. (It’s right in front of me)
6 Gnarlysurf // Sep 29, 2005 at 4:12 pm
Yeah I have watched the sun rise many a times tho it was way back in college…when I was a younger cat. Meow. Anyways I was never much of an early riser but I have gotten used to get since it is now 2 yrs that I have been working for the same company. You CAN get used to such a thing…tho it takes time. Hmmm am I rambeling on again? RYC: Yeah I have had a bad day and one rought week for that matter.
7 TimsHead // Sep 29, 2005 at 4:42 pm
Oh I love it. Somewhere there is a Googler who thinks you’re a master slacker. And some Xangan found my site via a search for John Roberts today and now will probably send me GOP fundrasing letters. Ain’t the ‘Net grand.Excellent meditation on mornings, by the way. Enjoy them while you can when they aren’t just a time to try to rush to work and try to get ahead of the day. Dew is to be enjoyed, not to be cursed at as you haul a golf towel out of the trunk to clear off your car windows. And yet I hope that very soon you can’t enjoy your mornings any more, in a good way.
8 x_defying_gravity_x // Sep 29, 2005 at 7:05 pm
Mmm mornings can be nice!And I must say, I’m quite impressed that you know of Neutral Milk Hotel…I know of only one other person that knows/likes them…(besides me of course)
9 chublin // Sep 29, 2005 at 9:16 pm
guess what? you get the same kind of effect in the evening… plus you don’t have to get up so friggin early. you should check it out some time
sweet comment by the way. your sarcasm was quite evident on its own. you should give the sarcastic bs post a try sometime..
10 rubyblue123 // Sep 30, 2005 at 2:45 am
I’m just hoping Asa is a pleasant morning person. When both are grumpy in the morning it can make for a most unpleasant commute or at the very least a quiet one.
11 chicagoartgirl23 // Sep 30, 2005 at 6:40 am
Hurrah for a great post! I’m always reluctant to say that I am a “morning person,” because I don’t want people to get the idea that I’m a grinning talkative freakshow hopped up on coffee slurrped from a giant mug with a cuddly kitten on it. I love mornings, though. I wake up at 5:30 to go running or do my kickboxing tape in my apartment until 7. Then, while my coffee is brewing and my oatmeal is nuke-ing, I write a bit. Nothing special. Just a little bit of what I’m thinking & snippets of dreams. Once my foods are ready, I peruse my Xanga and munch away. Then its time to get ready for work and out the door by 8am. My el commute to work is 50 minutes, walking time included. I love the reading and ipod jamming that happens during that commute. As long as I don’t have to talk to anyone, I love mornings too.
Thanks for the relaxing read! I was reading Tom Robbin’s Villa Incognito last week and a character refers to Portland as “Porkland.” I laughed & thought of you. It sounds like a lovely place.
12 StigmataMartyr42 // Sep 30, 2005 at 2:15 pm
Mornings are nice, but the whole getting up part sucks. I especially like breakfast, but there’s not many all day breakfast places in my area. Terrible really. Cannot wait to get to New York. Craving a bagel w/cream cheese, lox, onion, and tomato.
*mouth waters*
The dew here is really neat also, but I have an outdoor soccer class in the morning so that sucks a bit. Oh well.
Take care!
13 Rod_Lamour // Oct 1, 2005 at 6:43 am
Well you have truly captured the essence of the morning. I tried to capitalize on that this morning bt calling you as I read the blog. But Alas no response…Love you Uncle Joe
14 momsahippiechick // Oct 1, 2005 at 9:15 am
i love early fall mornings when i don’t have to go to work.you sound so happy, laura. i envy you. enjoy this time.love ya.
15 mas88 // Oct 1, 2005 at 6:49 pm
i am terrified of google and am frantically seeking a way to make my site unsearchable because i keep getting these looney midwestern lonely teens leaving me hate notes. i actually had to get the police involved at one point, and you can only imagine the kind of grounding that kid in iowa got when the NYPD called.
(my anti-searching rant sounded way less unabomber-ish in my head, i promise.)
16 trcs // Oct 2, 2005 at 9:14 am
Last year I had to get up ridiculously early for practicum everyday. On one of those days I needed some sand for a science lesson I was going to be doing, so I left home a couple of minutes early to walk over to the beach and grab some. Besides the fact that I felt like a big geek shovelling sand into ziplock bags with a spoon, being down at the water so early in the morning, with the mountains and the city right in front of me, felt so peaceful and wonderful. Like you, I have the problem of loving sleep too much to get up and enjoy that kind of thing when I’m able to. That morning I told myself that I would start getting up early sometimes and go sit at the water wtih some tea… but it’s never happened. Glad you’ve got a reason to get up and enjoy it somedays