Thoughts from an Early Riser

September has arrived, and it precedes my favorite season. Fall. I wake up ready to live the day. I'm an early riser, and I don't remember when this happened to me. I used to stay up into the wee hours writing. Now, I'm awake before sunrise. My mind is churning at a crisp clip that makes my wife a little crazy. She's not an early riser.

Early Risers

Christy's thoughts at 6AM Saturday morning

Tanner - is a canine alarm clock. He keeps me in rhythm. He knows 5:30AM.  He can "hit the snooze" until 6AM. I start my Saturday morning by feeding the dogs.

Suburbia - is quiet at sunrise. However, Wendy isn't around the corner anymore, so I can't send a quick text that says, "want to meet me at Magnolia for breakfast?" I think suburbia might be more isolated than the country. At least a morning in the country is shared with birds, deer, cows, the sunrise, fish, frogs, and dogs.

Costco - should open before 9:30 on a Saturday. At least I could get that out of the way. We're down to the last two rolls of toilet paper, so it's fair to say I need to make an emergency run to Costco.

The River - is a people soup. The thought of throwing my kayak on the back of the truck and taking an early morning paddle is a thing of the past. When your city grows as fast as Austin, you are no longer an elite few early risers.  

Hike and Bike - is no different than mall walking these days. Population explosion takes the solitude out of it.

Rain  - means two years of delays on the Carmine property. I thought by now, I'd be rising early on a Saturday morning from a quiet cabin in the country.

Writing - is something I want to do more than once a week (I tried twice a week, and I found that work/life balance doesn't allow for it).

Quiet - is the benefit of early rising. It's so still and quiet right now that I can only hear a distant plane. Even the dog went back to sleep.

Thirteen - is the age of transcendence for girls. Twelve is the year a parent lives with an alien.  Thirteen is the emergence of someone who's actually fun to take to the movies.

Two hours - ago Tanner woke me up.  I've  had my coffee, and my mind is giving way to my body's desire to get up and get going.  

A bike ride - is a great way to burn off the morning, or at least kill an hour and a half until Costco opens.