Why Am I Up At Six?

As I was standing at my kitchen sink early this morning... Wait a minute. That's how I started my blog a few days ago. Oh well, I guess that means I spend a lot of time at my kitchen sink. Anyway, as I was standing at my kitchen sink early this morning, I was thinking about how quiet and peaceful six a.m. was. That made me laugh. Every time of day is quiet and peaceful around here. Six a.m., ten a.m, or two in the afternoon are all the same, almost.

The only difference in audio stimulation is in the avian activity. In other words,birds get pretty noisy around here. Then, of course, there is the occasional lawnmower, chainsaw, or airplane putting in their two-cents' worth.. Other than that, if I want noise, I have to provide it myself. I usually don't.

I digressed. Where was I? Oh yes. I was standing at my kitchen sink early this morning, enjoying the peace and quiet, and wondering why washing up last night's dishes felt different at six a.m. than it does at ten a.m. I will admit I had more to wash that I normally do because I had had family over for dinner.  But it didn't take long to figure out why this morning was different. It was the lighting. There wasn't nearly as much natural light that early in the morning. The sky was gray, but that was normal. It just wasn't very bright yet. It was sort of like being wrapped up in a cocoon.

Cocoons are good. They provide rest and a time to undergo change. The only change I wanted was going from washing dishes to crawling back into bed. I was tired. I wanted a cocoon-rest, pleeeease.

Why was I up so early (early for me, that is)? It was because of my own personal choices. I chose to tell my son to just put the dishes in the sink--I'd wash them later. I chose to not wash dishes later. I also chose not to straighten up the living room as I had planned to do.  I watched a couple shows on Hulu instead. AND, last week I chose to have the heat-pump guy come at eight this morning to do the annual check-up on my heating system, and clean the electrostatic filters. That's what precipitated this whole affair.

As I was standing at my kitchen sink, all those choices, which seemed good at the time I made them, were bonking me on the head (bashing, actually) and saying, "What were you thinking? It's six o'clock in the morning!"

So, I was up! I felt like I didn't have a choice any more. After all, I didn't want the heat-pump guy to see dirty dishes in my sink and bread crumbs on my counters. I didn't want him to see the little rat's nest I create in my living room as the week progresses, the rat nest that consists of books piled all over my couch, newspapers opened to the crossword puzzles and dropped on the floor, and magazines, pens, necklaces, fingernail polish, and an empty water bottle scattered helter-skelter on top of my coffee table. That just wouldn't do. So, I was doing what I should have done yesterday. Cleaning.

Now my kitchen is clean (dishes washed, dried, put away, and counters wiped down), my living room in all neat and tidy (newspapers recycled whether the puzzles were finished or not), my heat-pump got a clean bill of health (great for a 12 year old piece of machinery--thank you, Lord), my blog is done, and it's only 10:30. What do I do now? I can't work outside because it is raining. That leaves me lots of other choices. Nap? Read? Get out my Greek flash cards? Nap? Resurrect my water colors? Watch for deer? Nap? And, oh yes, eat!

Choices, choices, choices, what a luxury. I just don't want to make any choice that will cause me to be cleaning at six tomorrow morning.

Trying to decide what to do today. Tomorrow will take care of itself.
Jan
jansjournal@hotmail.com