Now and again, I hear or read a quote that says exactly what I mean that I wish I had thought of first. When I have my act together, I write it down with the proper attrition to come back to for reflection. Such was the case several years ago when Andrew Malan Milward gave an OLLI presentation – “Lying to Tell the Truth.” Evidently, he shares my love for a good quote and gave us one from Francis Coppola, which makes this one handed down twice. “I wanted to work in the morning before the world had a chance to break my heart.”
Realizing that the world is divided, not evenly I’m guessing, into larks who love mornings and owls who prefer nights, I cast my lot firmly with the larks. The best part of the day, which some of you miss, begins around five AM or so and often includes a beautiful sunrise. At this hour, not even the telemarketers are up. No one is calling to let me know that the warranty on my thirteen-year-old Honda (still in fine shape thank you very much) has expired or to show concern about my student loans (which I never took out since I pinched pennies and commuted for my entire education). For at least a couple of hours, I can do whatever I want – write, read, or watch that sunrise. This is where I get my estimation about the unevenness with more owls than larks since I see few house lights on at this time of day.
After a few hours, people begin to want a chunk of my time. Most of these are people whom I like, offering things I like to do, so the rest of the morning is good time and even in the afternoons I’m still fairly functional. Once supper is over, I like to be through with anything beyond minor thinking and doing things that are either superbly appealing or completely mindless.
Now for those of you in the owl category, I appreciate you even if I don’t understand you. Somebody needs to be taking care of the world after we larks have experienced our heartbreak and called it a day.