From early childhood I was an early riser, I still am. Awake at 5.00am has been normal for me all of my life. My parents made it clear that they did not share my propensity for such an early time, and I quickly learned that waking them at that hour was not a good thing to do. I learned how to entertain myself quietly – I looked at books, I had a shoe box full of treasures, and an egg-shaped crystal radio. In Portland at that time KEX was the main station I could pick up since it was the strongest signal in the area.

Over the years I came to savor mornings. My current routine includes reading the news, mini-crosswords, and Wordle – I save Duolingo for after Tricia gets up. For years I have recorded the current temperature, the forecast high, and sunrise – sunset times, adding the location when we travel and what we did for lunch the day before. These small notebooks record a lot about our travels and life. It is also a good time to meditate and say a prayer or two, we sure need it.

Sunsets seem to get more attention than sunrises, but I have seen some amazing things even before the sun is up. Here are a couple from our condo in Mukilteo.

Tricia prefers getting up more like 7.30 – 8.00 am; she had to rise much earlier when she was a project manager so this is a benefit of retirement. Thankfully my childhood lessons of being quiet are now applied to making coffee quietly and tending to my routine. When she had her eye surgery in Paris a couple of years ago we had an apartment in the 15th arrondissement with a deck, perfect for morning coffee.

When we travel I often go out for a morning coffee and a sketch. One of my favorites was this cafe in the Place de Alpes, Geneva. The weather was bright and brisk, the fire perfect.

One morning in Basal, Switzerland I sketched the streetcar.

Of course there have been many mornings in Paris.

When we are at home I must have just the right chair. In Normandie we made quite a find at a brocante. This chair was buried behind some other furniture and we only paid 40 Euros. It was my morning spot, but Neville might have disputed that. We brought it to Portland with us and it is where I spend my mornings now, of course still missing Neville.

Mornings in The Pearl are nothing like mornings in Normandie, but I do have some wonderful views of people walking dogs, and, in the winter, this view… how can you beat it.

So what about you? Do you love mornings? If not, we can still be friends, but I don’t do well staying up late so it is nothing personal if I pop off at 2100 leaving you to your late night high jinks.