When It’s Early In the Morning

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I entrust my life.

Psalm 143:8

A discovery. A realization. An acceptance.

I do my best writing in the morning. Trusted coffee cup at my side. Before the alarms of the other household members start going off…and they inevitably hit the snooze button elebenteen-hunnert times.

In reality, I’ve always known this.

For almost seven years now, I have endeavored to write a thousand words each morning. Sometimes they’re good words.

Sometimes they’re journaling. Sometimes they’re listing out the crap I have to deal with during the day.

I find that if I don’t do that first thing, getting to that count, and to any substantive writing later in the day is difficult.

I did on my recent journey try text to talk to get to that word count. I hit the count easily. But some of the

Mugshots

things my phone translated into written form are, at best, hysterical.

That method is great for getting down some ideas. But I do my best writing at the keyboard. Thank you to Mrs. Jamison for teaching me to type nearly fifty years ago.

It’s on nights like the one that has just barely ended that I come to certain realizations. Most of the insomnia from Last Summer’s Great Unpleasantness™ has subsided. But there are nights, or early mornings, when I still wake up well before the alarm and realize that there’s no going back to sleep.

For the record, it’s much easier when that happens at 5:00 a.m. than at 2:00 a.m…which has happened.

Perhaps it was no great discovery, just an acceptance, that I should be up early to spend my time writing.

For much of the last year that was a challenge. But that schedule has changed.

I was able to put this into words, and thus provide you with a brilliant post to sail you off into the weekend, last night when I was trying to write after dinner.

I had been up early for a chiropractor appointment, came home, worked a full day, including two online meetings, picked up a son as he left his car for repairs, cooked dinner, cleaned most of that up, and then I sat down to write.

I didn’t even have an evening cup and there were just no words coming. Not this post. Not the short stories. Not the novel.

I couldn’t brain anymore. That’s when I realized, or accepted, that the writing has to happen in the morning.

Truth is, I’m writing this as much for my own benefit as yours.

Here’s the new-ish plan.

I’ll rise early at a time to be determined. I’ll put the coffee on, poop the dogs, rescue the cat from near starvation, maybe take a walk, have a morning devotional and prayer time, and sit down at the keyboard to write the next Great American Novel™.

A lot of things have to fall into place for this plan to work. For one thing, I’ve got to get to bed earlier.

That should be easy as we have multiple streaming options, but nothing worth watching…and why am I paying for those anyway?

I digress.

It’s also true that I may have to regroup in about 6-7 weeks as I’m being called back downtown for the day job. After our forty-seven years of house arrest, I’m not sure I remember how to get ready for work.

I’ll adjust.

And if I get up early enough, I’ll tell you how that works out.

Have a good weekend.


BORN ON THIS DAY

1908 – James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997)
1933 – Constance Towers, American actress and singer
1946 – Cher, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
1958 – Ron Reagan, American journalist and radio host

BENEDICTION

The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Psalm 121:7–8

How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights, in sunsets
In midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches, in miles
In laughter, in strife

Seasons of Love, from the musical Rent

This morning, my Facebook memories reminded me that on this date in 2021, I was in the hospital being implanted with radiation seeds to begin to treat my prostate cancer.

Facebook didn’t pull the that picture, but their “factcheckers” in their infinite “wisdom” pulled my earlier check-in when I said “Let’s kick this pig.”

That would be followed by five weeks of external radiation.

NARRATOR: You can view the playlist for the five weeks here.

What a year it has been.

For the duration, I gave up working at the park. I gave up theater. I returned to the park to play Santa during

The Write Side Shop

Winterfest, but COVID cut that short. That’s another story. Another post.

I am back to the park. I am carefully considering theater opportunities. If you’re casting, I have a bucket list.

I digress.

I have twice been back to my urologist who has told me that bloodwork shows “no detectable trace.” I don’t think the medical community is willing to say “cancer free.”

But, I’ll take it.

It’s been a challenging year, and I don’t think the whole episode is completely behind me, so to speak.

I still have challenges related to the treatment and the whole process. I’m moving a little slower. I still tire quite easily.

I’m getting stronger every day. Not as quickly as I might have liked, but I have to remind myself that I spent most of 2021 fighting the battle of a lifetime.

I know that I am very, very fortunate. I have survived cancer twice in my lifetime.

As I wrote last week with the loss of a friend, I don’t know why I’ve been the one to survive.

So, I’ve thought, and prayed, about that a lot over recent months. I’ve written a bit about my introspective journey out to far Southwest Virginia.

I hate the term, but I’m still “processing” that. It means something.

And to paraphrase, with that knowledge comes great responsibility.

I’m a writer with stories to tell. Some of them are my own.

Thank you to those who have walked this journey with me, friends, family, medical professionals.

Let’s find some time to measure a few cups of coffee together.


BORN ON THIS DAY

1925 – Malcolm X, American minister and activist (d. 1965)
1934 – Jim Lehrer, American journalist and author (d. 2020)
1935 – David Hartman, American journalist and television personality
1939 – Nancy Kwan, Hong Kong-American actress and makeup artist
1941 – Nora Ephron, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)
1944 – Peter Mayhew, English-American actor (d. 2019)
1945 – Pete Townshend, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1946 – André the Giant, French-American wrestler and actor (d. 1993)

BENEDICTION

The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Psalm 121:7–8