...0-dark:30 AM

I have NEVER been a morning person...
too many years of late night rehearsals & gigs...
too many years of "forced" arising...in the dark...
operating on auto-pilot until somewhere during the morning...

always on the verge of exhaustion...
but NOT anymore...

now I find myself taking pleasure in watching the world wake up...
I wouldn't call myself a morning person yet...
but then, I wasn't a dog person until recently either...
change is inevitable if you are still learning...
[and before some of you faint...
I will NOT be registering "Republican", anytime soon...]

Molly has been sleeping comfortably through the night...
since her last couple of days at the vet...
no pitiful, urgent, LOUD whining outside my bedroom at 2 AM...
jerking me from REM sleep...and leaving me groggy all day...

so this morning...at 6:30 AM...
when I finally dragged myself from the warmth of my bed...
to answer MY nature's call...
I just went ahead & got mostly dressed...
[Crocks, jeans & a too big sweatshirt...]

and after some bathroom moments for me...
[all the while being serenaded by you-know-who...
who was also dancing & annoying the previously sleeping cats...]
we "leashed up" and ventured forth into the rapidly fading night...



as we began our gallop...
she's always in a hurry to find "that" spot...
I was concentrating hard on the uneven sidewalk...
[think... tree roots... & earthquakes, this IS CA...]
the LAST thing I need is take a fall & break something...



the street lamps were still on...
though the sky was growing lighter by the moment...
it was so quiet...
too early for the honking of the migrating geese...
'way down the street, headlights...
most houses dark...
a cat runs across the street...
Molly wants to chase it...
when they don't run, she ignores them...

we have gone almost 3/4 of the way now...
lots of sniffing...but no peeing yet...
finally she finds a spot she likes and anoints it...

on we go...another dog walker across the street...
little yappy thing...Molly ignores it...
almost home...no dump yet...

sigh...

so around we go again...

this time, a more manageable pace...
[ie, NOT galloping...]

it is quite a bit lighter now...



before we get around the 2nd time...
dawn will be almost accomplished...

this time, there is more activity...
I see a TV blinking in a couple of houses...
a car backing out...more lights in the distance...
kids leaving the house for school...
riding bikes...
or hunched under backpacks, with hands stuffed in pockets...

cats perched under cars...
vigilant for any threatening move on our part...
more dog walkers...
who politely give us a wide berth...
the first, a shy greyhound in a coat...
who must have come too close... so Molly barks...
a smaller dog barks back...

coming up on home, the 2nd time...

and STILL no dump...

as I'm standing next to one of her dumps I "imported"...
to the parkway in front of my house...
hoping to "encourage" her to "go" closer to home...
[it will be cold & wet soon...]
she's ignoring it completely...



the street lamps "pop" off...

all that's missing is the first finger of light...
breaking through the canopy of trees...
like the building, first notes of "Also Sprach Zarathustra"...
[think "2001, A Space Odyssey" if you don't "do" classical music...]
the anticipation of the tentative, then more urgent layers of brass sound...
leading to the climactic crashing chords...
of the sunrise...



meanwhile...back in my bedroom...
more reasonable sentient beings are still lounging...



while others...
[remember Miz "Toof-less" in Mudville ?]



she has now fully recovered...
as she was chomping crunchies last night...
[and she's MUCH happier...]



but she can still go from her nest...



to "out"...
in 2 seconds flat...

so having "released the Piglet"...and fed Fluff...
I returned to feed Molly...
and give her the catfood/antibiotic meatball...



as I finish this post...most of the cats are still asleep...
my clock just chimed "9"...
prior to that, I had one of those "appointment confirmation" calls...
from the gastro-enterologist's office...
tomorrow I have a consultation re a routine colonoscopy...
[I've escaped for 10 years...
due to NO family history of colon cancer...]

I'm NOT looking forward to all the prep for that...

but for now...I have the morning office to read...

then...I have chores to do...
music to arrange...
a lawn to mow...
bedding plants to plant...

I think I'll make some coffee...
then read the office...

and before all the chores, perhaps breakfast...

this "morning stuff" can be pretty nice after all...