Early Bird – Weekly Photo Challenge

Ivy’s head rests on my knee and she gazes through the window, watching the shadows in the yard searching for movement protecting her home. Her warmth and the coffee help bring the day to life for me.

earlybird

I enjoy getting up early, sipping coffee, and catching the day’s first lights as it creeps across the yard and illuminate the trees. It is quiet in the family room, at least on Sunday morning. Usually, on weekdays, W and I are out the door on our way to school and O is just rising readying for school. However, Sunday morning is different – the day begins much slower and quieter. It is just Ivy and I, peaceful and serene.

There is irony, too. I am looking ahead to the week’s lessons. I teach one section of U. S History and we begin studying at World War II, tomorrow. We will be watching Tora, Tora, Tora and it is on in front of me. I’m multi-tasking and I am switching between writing, watching, and going back to my youth. I remember coming home from school as a third grader and finding my mom weeding the flowerbed and asking her, “Why did Japan bomb us at Pearl Harbor?” It was a complex question and she did her best to answer. I don’t remember what she told me, but it is the moment when I became a historian.

irony. It was an early bird attack that caught us, unprepared, on December 7, 1941. It was an early morning in 2001, which caught us again. It seems that history repeats itself.

“Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.”

― George Santayana, The Life of Reason: Five Volumes in One

This morning is different, it is the first part of the day, I am looking back and looking ahead, determined to not repeat the mistakes of other Sundays – sundays that got away from me. The early morning is the best part of the day; it is quiet, serene, and peaceful. Ivy lays at my feet and I have a bag of papers to review, correct, and mark. The morning’s daylight is fleeting and today’s forecast calls for rain early in the afternoon, perfect for a mid-April Sunday spent planning and preparing.

Today is gonna be a great day, I know it and I can feel it. So, I’d better hop up, get moving – seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, especially in the early morning, with a cup of coffee and my dog, Ivy.

Are you and early bird? How do you use your early morning?

Today’s post is inspired by Word Weekly photo Challenge – Early Bird. This week’s post (and especially if you’re among those who find the early bird concept cringe-worthy), I encourage you to set your alarm for the early hours, grab your first (several) cups of coffee, and challenge yourself to capture an outstanding photograph in the early morning light.

I should also note George Santayana is credited with the following quote from Soliloquies in England & Later Soliloquies

“Only the dead have seen the end of war.”

10 thoughts on “Early Bird – Weekly Photo Challenge

  1. I love how positive you are in the morning! I didn’t use to be a early bird, but more and more I have started to appreciate that quiet time enjoying my coffee in the morning. That is the weekends, during the weekday it is rushing to work and the first coffee is in front of the laptop:)

    1. Thanks Mary – I apologize for the tardy reply….getting up early and trekking outside was my first thought, too. But, I decided to have a cup of coffee first, then the idea of the photo came to me and voila – presto! Ivy and I usually enjoy that corner of the couch in the morning – I can read or think (or both) and she can look outside and survey her yard. That is the corner of the yard where she got her bunny… have a wonderful week –

    1. Margaret – Thank you. Ivy doesn’t think she is a dog! This morning she greeted me at the bottom of the stairs, went outside, and then went back to bed in my son’s room. We’ve had her for five years and I can’t imagine what life was like before she became part of the family. Sorry for the tardy reply – it has been a bit hectic (and much of it my own doing). take care and stay well.

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