Morning

October 21, 2020

I have mentioned how I am not much of a morning person.  My Dad would always get up around six am and go for a four-mile walk.  One of my first memories was walking with him when I was about four years old.  I am sure the reason I remember this is because Dad took long strides and moved fast.  I cannot remember how long I lasted but I do remember running along behind him as he took off down the street.  During his forties dad again took up walking and then jogging, even entering several competitive races as he got older.  Dad even had the distinction of getting a second-place medal in his age group, finishing behind Jim Ryun.  Ryun won a silver medal in the 1500 m at the 1968 Summer Olympics and was the first high school athlete to run a mile in under four minutes. I will admit, there were only two runners in his age group.

Melissa has been telling me about the birds that are swarming our feeders early in the morning.  The smaller birds have been attacking the feeders and spilling seed onto the cement deck.  The doves then come in and clean up whatever has been dropped.  Since I tend to sleep later and then play with my phone when I do wake, I have missed the activity.  This morning I did get up (but hardly early) and was treated to the rush of feeding time.  The birds were plentiful but fast.  While I saw at least two new birds for my list, they were off before I could get good photos so I cannot count them.  Birding is harder than I thought (btw: any idea what this is?).

I am not the only one to get hooked into walking with dad in the morning.  When we went on vacation, we left Bella with my parents for the first time.  They set up a nice bed for her next to the back window so she could look out.  Apparently, Bella had other ideas as she followed them into the bedroom and stood whimpering at their feet.  Thinking she must sleep with us (she did not) they put her up in the bed.  Dad got back at her the following morning.  He assumed she also went for walks (she did not) and took her with him.  Melissa could not get her to walk to the end of the block without sitting down.  No doubt she was just like me. You keep up or you get left behind.

𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗦:  I never used to have problems getting up in the morning.  At times I have even flirted with getting up at six am to exercise but it has always fallen through.  Regardless, I was generally up and into work by eight.  Now that I have retired, I have less incentive.  It is not that I have less to do.  I am probably busier now than I was before.  It is just that my hours have shifted toward evening.  I have read that many of the habits we form are established by around 15 years of age.  While we can change, it becomes more difficult the older we get.  Adventurous old people tend to be adventurous youth and cautious old people tend to be cautious youth.  We are in a time when we are being asked to make changes in both attitude and actions.  You need to keep up or you will get left behind.  Do the work.  Follow the science.  Change is coming and it starts with you.