I am a morning person.
I know, I know. We can be a particularly annoying breed to people who are certainly not morning people. My wife for example? Not a morning person.
I can stay up until 4 a.m., and still get out of bed by 8 a.m. because I just can’t sleep late at all anymore. I wish I could. I try to. But I just can’t.
When I got this job, I was not told I had to be here at the crack of dawn, but that is often when I get here to the office. Is it because I love this job so much that I can’t wait to get here every day?
Maybe.
It also might have something to do with the fact that I am an early riser, and once I am up, I prefer to get ready and just come to work. Plus, the traffic is better early in the morning, even if I am only driving to Oregon from Rockford.
Remember when you were a teenager and could sleep for 20 hours? The summer after I graduated from high school, but before I left for the Air Force, I slept pretty much all day every day. I delivered pizzas at night or hung out with friends. Other than that? Sleeping.
I could go to bed at 2 a.m. and sleep until 4 p.m. Get up, shower and go to work.
Repeat.
Now I can barely sleep a handful of hours before I have to get up and go to the bathroom.
But even though I am a morning person, mornings this time of year just aren’t as fun as they were even a few weeks ago. I woke up this morning, took a shower and got dressed, turned off the light … and ran into the wall.
No sun.
Yes, that terrible season we call winter is just around the corner. Sure, we still have to go through fall – and my favorite holiday, Halloween – but winter is already starting to make its looming presence known.
I can tell by the dark mornings. I can tell by the acorns now bouncing off of our roof and covering our driveway. I can tell by the school buses on the roads in the morning carting fresh-faced youngsters to their respective schools.
Winter is coming.
Winter makes getting up and going to work much harder. Dark when you go to work, and sometimes dark when you come home.
That means that my beloved summer is starting its slow move off the stage for another year. It has been great having you here, summer, with your warm days and perfect evenings. Your beautiful green trees and sparkling blue rivers. Your mosquitoes and torrential downpours.
It is almost time to start dragging out the sweaters and hoodies. The winter coats and boots. The gloves and scarves and hats. The flask for the whiskey that keeps me from worrying too much about how cold it is outside.
OK, the whiskey part is not true, but you get my point. The horrible cold, dark days of winter are coming.
I’ll still get up in the morning, generally before my alarm. I will still be in a pretty good mood. I will still get to work very early.
In the meantime, I will take advantage of every warm day we have left. I’ll ride my motorcycle and wear shorts and mow the yard and pretend that the weather will always stay toasty.
