Tuesday, June 24, 2008

First Light



Dawn's first light is so fresh and full of potential. It's quiet, still, but not creepy in the way that the final minutes of nighttime can be. Depending on the season, everything is still dewy or frosty from the night before. Birds sing so beautifully in the early morning. The crickets, too. And I love watching my neighbors poke their heads out their front doors to retrieve the paper, or let a pet out for a morning pee. Their hair is rumpled and the sweats, robes or teeshirts they're wearing are crinkled, too. It's sweet, like watching animals coming out of their burrows after the long winter.

I could lead a far more stylish life if I could make myself stay up late, Night owls are cool people who sit and talk until 3:00 in the morning, or play jazz late into the night, make art, make love all night, just like in the movies. Night is so mysterious and powerful - the people who thrive at night are always so sophisticated.

After many years of trying to restructure my life to fit a different circadian rhythm, (in order to become sophisticated) I finally gave up, exhausted and cranky. I'm content these days with being a morning person. Though not nearly as glamorous a time as the hour of afterparties, it has its charms. At least I think so.

13 comments:

Barbara said...

I'm a morning person too who likes to take full advantage of daylight hours. I start yawning when the sun goes down and looking forward to going to sleep. I've never suffered from insomnia, but my body senses the light and lets me know it's time to rise and shine. I seldom wake up feeling cranky, maybe a little stiff, but definitely not cranky. I've long wished to be a glamorous nightowl, but some things are just not meant to be.

lacochran said...

"It's sweet, like watching animals coming out of their burrows after the long winter." Marvelous image! :)

Reya Mellicker said...

Thanks lacochran.

And Barbara, I'm only cranky if I've stayed up too late and had too little sleep. That's how I used to do it, back when I believed it was important to be cool.

Maybe it is still important. Who knows? I'm just not cool at a fundamental level. Oh well.

lettuce said...

yes, i loved that burrowing animals image too!

i get kind of cranky when i wake up earlier than necessary - as i often do - but once I'm up, i do like it, those golden hours are wonderful - and especially now, as the weathers perfect for taking the first cup of tea out into the garden...

i think you're cool, reya.

xx

Lynne said...

I was never a morning person, but lately I find myself waking up earlier and earlier and instead of rolling over and trying to go back to sleep, I get up. I have been amazed at the quality of light at that hour of the morning when I am usually lazing in bed. I think I could easily become a morning person!

David said...

Having a pup around has forced me to be something of a morning person. I used to stay up until 2 or 3 just about every night, but these days I rarely get to sleep past 6:30 am and that means I'm usually passed out around 11 or 12, which is ridiculous . I hope I can get back to late nights at some point, though. Because I do think better at night. Of course, sometimes I just THINK I'm thinking better. Then I wake up the next day and wonder who typed all this garbage on my screen. But the key is that late at night I'm able to commune with this creature who lives in this recessed part of my brain and who never comes out to play in the daytime. And I miss that.

One more thought: I actually kind of like being up early, it's just that my brain and body don't really start working correctly until about 6pm. It doesn't really matter how early I go to bed, the result is the same. It's very frustrating.

Oh, and =by the way, I wish I could live up to that "sophisticated" remark! ;-)

Steve Reed said...

I am definitely a morning person. Very often I'm up at 5 a.m., just naturally. But then I crash at about 10 p.m. That's just my natural rhythm, for better or worse!

I love morning too. You know I've written about the birds in the morning on my fire escape -- I love them!

Cyndy said...

I wish I was a morning person, but I don't try very hard to be one. The easiest way for me to see the sun rise and hear the birds chirping is to just stay up longer. On the other hand, if I need to be alert and functional by 10 AM, I'd better make sure I go to sleep early enough to get up by 6. One of these years I'll get better at regulating my sleep schedule!

John said...

You do have such a clever way of photographic that which is not there!

Moonroot said...

I'm definitely not a morning person (but I'm definitely not sophisticated either!). Yet on those occasions that I'm up early enough to see the dawn I must admit it's a very special time of day.

dennis said...

Dennis is a morning person--Dennis is the very first one up and likes to wake everyone by belting out a song!

Reya Mellicker said...

Dennis? You are so cool!!

Gary said...

Sadly over the years my natural night person inclination has been beaten down due to the necessity of all these early mornings. Now I find it difficult to stay up too late. I am hoping I will get back into my true rhythm in my later years - I can retire in 14 years! OY!