When I was a boy my mother would roust us kids out of bed at 4:30 AM.?ÿ By the time I had my britches on and made it down to the kitchen the whole fam-damily was there.?ÿ Pops was sucking coffee down and reading the newspaper, Momma was sizzling something up in a skillet and us kids were bouncing around the kitchen like sleepy drunk pinballs..finally coming to rest in chair at the table.?ÿ After a spartan breakfast we all had different chores to which we attended.
We all had to make our beds.?ÿ Unless it was Monday..then you had to put on fresh sheets and toss the others in the laundry pile on the back porch.?ÿ I usually fed and watered the dogs and swept the bedrooms and halls.?ÿ And while I was in the covered back porch feeding the dogs I had to sort all the laundry into their respective piles. Then we usually had a heated discussion about whose turn it was to wash or dry the morning dishes. Mind you this all occurred before the sun came up.?ÿ By the time each of us kids had completed our tasks and trotted off to school we each had put in a good hour and a half.
In due time I joined my brothers as a local paperboy.?ÿ I mean if you're already up at 4:30 you might as well get out and earn some money in the almost four hours before school started.?ÿ I would get my chores done, hop on my bike, deliver 75 newspapers and head to school with my empty paper bags wrapped around the handlebars of my bicycle.
I never could figure out why the rush and hub-bub.?ÿ I always guessed there were "morning police" that would bust you for not getting your chores done before sun up.?ÿ We all hurried in the mornings like it was a contest, but there were never any winners or prizes.?ÿ I remember stopping by friends' houses on the way to school and scratching on their windows so we could all ride our bikes in a pack on the way to school.?ÿ There were some morning the "dirt road gang" was six or seven strong.?ÿ Sometimes a few of my buddies would still be in bed when we got there.?ÿ I remember wondering what it was like to stay in bed and "sleep in".
So here I am sixty years later and still getting up way too damned early.?ÿ My wife gets aggravated at me banging around at 4:30 in the morning.?ÿ By 5 AM I've already fed the dogs, had breakfast and read the news, tidied up the kitchen, gathered laundry, loaded the dishwasher, put the trash to the curb and written or replied to 3 or 4 emails from clients.?ÿ I've asked my siblings over the years if they get up that early, and yes, they all still do too.?ÿ
I guess our mother would be proud we still continue to hop out of bed before the sun is up and tend to our menial chores.?ÿ 😉
But do you sweep the halls???ÿ?ÿ?ÿ I used to get up at that time to go unload the half semi of lamb carcasses from Colorado at the packing plant before high school.?ÿ
I still get up pretty early, (not 4 am early though).?ÿ?ÿ I can not sleep in once the sun is even close to being up.?ÿ Maybe till 7 on the weekends.?ÿ
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great story, as usual!?ÿ
When at the grandparents, the day started about 4:30, and then in high school, my choice of employment necessitated I be waking up about then.?ÿ Made basic training a slight bit easier on my system than on most everyone else.?ÿ As time has passed, my sleep schedule has changed from early morning to late night, back again, and then more, mostly on it's choosing.?ÿ I miss being able to get stuff done in the mornings.?ÿ I also miss laying down and falling asleep at night.?ÿ My child doesnt understand my lack of sympathy when she complains about her lack of 12 hours of sleep.
6:59 only comes around once a day and that is in the late afternoon.?ÿ I broke that "crack of dawn" habit as soon as possible after leaving home.?ÿ My grandparents had a motto about "up with the chickens, to bed with the chickens".?ÿ Not me.?ÿ Late evening is prime time for me to be productive.
loaded the dishwasher
You're not putting anything weird in there, are you?
?ÿ
loaded the dishwasher
You're not putting anything weird in there, are you?
?ÿ
'Nobody' will ever know 'cause she's still asleep. 😉
Well written Mr. Cash,
I have a question of you and anyone interested.?ÿWhat time of day were you born? How about your siblings?
If my educator daughter's observation holds true, I am guessing your were born pretty early in the day. She has compiled anectdotal evidence that the time of birth is a bigger factor on behavior than upbringing. The old nature vs. nurture argument.
I much prefer to watch the sun come up every day. Born at 4:30 AM. Virtually everyone I ask is the same way.?ÿ
I wonder if a few of y'all find that this is the case.
JA, PLS, SoCal
Here it is 4:55 am, I have my breakfast coffee and am chuckling over your post 🙂
Well written Mr. Cash,
I have a question of you and anyone interested.?ÿWhat time of day were you born? How about your siblings?
If my educator daughter's observation holds true, I am guessing your were born pretty early in the day. She has compiled anectdotal evidence that the time of birth is a bigger factor on behavior than upbringing. The old nature vs. nurture argument.
I much prefer to watch the sun come up every day. Born at 4:30 AM. Virtually everyone I ask is the same way.?ÿ
I wonder if a few of y'all find that this is the case.
JA, PLS, SoCal
I guess I'm an outlier.?ÿ I was born around 7PM in the evening.?ÿ My sister was born around the same time of day.?ÿ My older brother was born in the wee hours of the morning and I couldn't tell you when my oldest brother was born.?ÿ I am however a left-handed Gemini (there's a bunch of us).?ÿ And although I don't put much stock in the zodiac most of the personality traits I've read for Geminis seem to fit me pretty well.
PS - I was actually born on the cusp between Gemini & Cancer.?ÿ All that means is I feel bad about exhibiting my 'mercurial' personality and then make people sick with my apologizing for it.
I was told I was born around 7:00 p.m.?ÿ I don't recall there being a clock in the delivery room that I could read to confirm that, though.
So...????????...is that why I am more of an "evening" person than a "crack of dawn" person?
I dont believe in Zodiac signs, but a few years ago NASA did the math and adjusted the dates for each sign.?ÿ
https://www.today.com/popculture/your-life-lie-zodiac-has-changed-here-s-your-new-t103295
Added to the memoir...
I was born in the late evening and I prefer to stay up late. However, I can adjust pretty well to early-ish wake-up times when required. I used to get to grad school well before 7 am to get a parking spot in the closest lot. Then for years I would drag into work at mid- to late-morning. Now with kids I'm back to getting up at 630 am to get myself together before getting the kids up for school. Kids were both born mid-evening (by c-section so maybe it doesn't count) and I can't get them to go to sleep before 930 pm unless they've been on-the-go the entire day.?ÿ
I was born 15 minutes before midnight, on the cusp between Scorpio and whatever is next (I think it's all a bunch of Taurus).
I prefer to get up at the crack of noon. Every day of my working life I had to get up before the sun came up, and when I left for semi-retirement I swore I would never get up in the dark again.
(I used to kid myself by saying I took full advantage of the day by getting up before sun-up.)
I was born at 3:15 am. Most days I get up when I wake up as long as it is not to the sound of an alarm clock. If I wake up and it is daylight, I get up. If I wake up and it is not daylight, I try to go back to sleep. If that don't happen in 5 minutes and the early morning news in on (starts at 4:30 am), I get up. Nothing makes me sleepy more than the sound of an alarm clock.
My alarm is set for 6:30 but the goal is to have breakfast finished before then. With dogs in the house, that's usually easy to do.
I have started fixing my eggs in the microwave. My wife makes several bowls of the fixins each week with ham, bacon, or sausage, along with potato chunks, chopped green onions, and cilantro. I just add two eggs, microwave and stir a few times. Faster than waiting in line at Whataburger.
James
Left-handed Gemini here too, sort of.
I rode my bike to school till the end of 4th grade and then the next school was 5mi away and when I missed the bus I still rode my bike until some people started to complain.
In the 3rd grade, my teacher told me that she was requiring me to do my homework by writing in each hand if I wanted to continue to use each hand to write with. I was in the middle of a writing assignment and was half a page deep using my left hand, so I chose my left hand so I would not have to redo anything. From then on I have been a leftie writer ever since.
Am right-handed at baseball, golf and cut brush with either hand.
.02
9pm birth and always a night person.?ÿ Cursed forever to be a surveyor that needs to be up 430 but pushes the snooze as late as possible.
We all hurried in the mornings like it was a contest, but there were never any winners or prizes.
Sure there were, your parents and your siblings, You, on the other hand well....my train of thought is still boarding at the station on that one. 😉 ?ÿ
I've never been a morning person; I get up because I have to but rarely am I ready to. The hardest part of moving from sales to the regimentation of an office job was having to get up early every day. Although what I call early would be considered sleeping in by most of you.
Well I feel your pain in a manner of speaking.
I wanted to sleep in today but at 4:30am I am on my second cup of coffee.
