“When I mentioned my early morning waking to the old witch down the street, she explained that this is the time the “ceiling is the thinnest,” the moment that the earth’s creatures have the greatest access to the heavens… It is a magical time, or so she said.”
Today is cloudy, but the day is so light the sun must be hidden behind the grey. Earlier, morning fog covered all the bushes and the lower branches of the trees. It’s warm, far warmer than I expected. Despite the clouds, I think it’s a nice day. The street cleaner rumbled by a couple of times sweeping the winter storm sand to the sides of the street. It is not a quiet truck.
My morning routine seldom differs. I wake up whenever, feed the cats, let the dog out, put the coffee on, go out and get the papers and yesterday’s mail, give Gracie her morning treats then grab a cup of coffee and settle in with the papers. I like my mornings.
No matter where I am, the mornings are different from the rest of the day. If I’m on a trip, I love to get up really early and wander the streets. I get to watch the day unfold. People sweep. Shopkeepers wear white aprons and have long-handled brooms. Africans wear colorful cloths and have hard grass brooms with no handles. They have to bend to use them. In cities, trucks stop in streets to unload goods for stores and restaurants. In one hotel my room’s window faced a side street where the trucks parked. They were my wake-up call every morning. In Santa Fe I sat on a bench and watched the Indians set up their wares while I munched on pastry and drank coffee. It was so early the square was empty of other people. At Gettysburg, I was awake before the park opened so I waited and was the first that morning to wander the battlefield. It was covered in ground fog. It was quiet as befitting a memorial.
Early mornings here on the Cape are quiet in the summer. The tourists are late risers. I sometimes go out to breakfast but most times I get coffee and take a ride. I watch quahoggers raking the river bottom while seagulls swoop and fly in circles over their heads hoping for a handout. Seagulls are always loud.
I know I’ve told you before, but I love African mornings most of all. They are filled with the smells of charcoal fires and the sounds of women pounding their mortar with pestles to make fufu. The sound is rhythmic. Everyone is up early in Ghana, even I was. I hated to miss any part of the morning.
Explore posts in the same categories: MusingsTags: Africa, African mornings, Cape mornings, charcoal fires, cloudy, daily routine, foggy, Gettysburg, morning air, mornings, people sweeping, quahogging, Santa Fe, trucks, warm day
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
keepthecoffeecoming.blog 
April 21, 2015 at 12:19 pm
What does it mean in baseball to “Bat Around” (asks the WSJ) does it mean that 9 players come to the plate or 10 ?
Last night Jose Inglesias literally left the zip code to throw out at first Gardner from those odious Yankees. Jose is arguably the best short stop in baseball. His combination with Ian Kinsler is starting to remind me of Lou and Alan.
April 21, 2015 at 12:29 pm
My Dear Hedley,
I’ve always thought it meant the first batter comes to the plate for the second time so I have to say at least 10.
I watched the video-amazing!!
April 21, 2015 at 12:45 pm
MLB’s statistician says 9, but their records are unofficial so maybe that doesn’t count. I say 10 as well.
Mr. Inglesias is also batting .439 who exactly did we give the Sox to get him ?
April 21, 2015 at 2:19 pm
MDH,
I don’t remember-was it Jake Peevy in a three way trade?
April 21, 2015 at 2:26 pm
I think the key word is around.
April 21, 2015 at 1:35 pm
The older I get, the earlier I get up. I hadn’t intended things to work out that way. I thought the older I got and didn’t have to get up for work, the later I’d sleep. Life sometimes plays tricks on us. So I thought I’d play a little trick on Hedley and share this song. It’s actually a pretty good one me thinks. From 2008’s “That Lucky Old Sun.”
April 21, 2015 at 2:20 pm
im6,
I like the imagery in the beginning. It is a pretty good song with the stamp of al the Beach Boys!
April 21, 2015 at 1:37 pm
Okay, I’ll throw Hedley a bone with this one. It’s from what’s probably my favorite album of 2014… and one I’d probably would have ignored had it not been for him. It’s a beauty.
April 21, 2015 at 2:23 pm
im6,
He also got me to buy the album, and I also love it. He was totally right in everything he said about Beck and his music here.
April 21, 2015 at 8:51 pm
Im6 and Kat.
Absolutely my favorite album of 2014. Becks work is so discrete on this album. Two turntables and a microphone ? You betcha.
Steven Wilson “Hand.Cannot.Erase” is my “go to” so far this year. I am waiting on the new Blur and Sufjan Stevens. Probably too many reissues on the desk,but there you go
April 21, 2015 at 8:53 pm
MDH,
I bought the album and was not at all disappointed. It has become a favorite.
I am a Sufjan Stevens fan so let me know about the new album.
April 22, 2015 at 9:34 am
Kat, The new album is “Carrie and Lowell”. Stevens lived in Detroit and Petoskey, so it should be interesting to see how he touches his roots. It is also folksy which is not really my preferred taste but I thought I would give it a go.
If I don’t like it I can either Frisbee it on to Telegraph Road or re-gift it to im6
April 22, 2015 at 10:47 am
MDH,
I like Stevens because of his folksy sound, and I know that folk sound isn’t among your favorites or even on the list. Because of that, I am curious about what you think.
April 22, 2015 at 11:16 am
Kat, I watched The Eels at the RAH which was steaming on line and ordered the double CD and DVD although I don’t know how often I will rewatch the concert.
A bit of a leap with Mr Stevens, we shall see – I will probably be back on the Steven Wilson train very quickly
April 22, 2015 at 11:26 am
MDH,
I have heard so many different styles because of you! I’ll trust your judgment.
April 21, 2015 at 2:05 pm
We’ve had two fantastic days here, sunny now ind and around 68F. It will last until Friday and after that the rain will come and perhaps even some snow but it will be warm enough to melt it before it hits the ground.
I like to go out early before the city wakes up when I’m travelling. Before the day sounds starts to alarm. In Paris all business owners were out sweeping the streets just outside their businesses and the smell from every bakery filled the air. It was much the same in Lisbon. But everyone is polite and nice in Lisbon while nobody is that in Paris 🙂 🙂
Have a great day!
Christer.
April 21, 2015 at 2:22 pm
Christer,
It is now a simply gorgeous day and is 61˚. I had Gracie with me for the first errand but brought her home as the car was getting to hot then I finished my errands. The house is nice and cool.
I remember early morning in Lisbon. That’s where the truck was which woke me up every morning. Nothing is better than the smell of bread baking!
April 21, 2015 at 2:26 pm
Mornings? Completely overrated! Says the night owl.
Afternoons are much better. Especially tomorrow. I will be on TV tomorrow afternoon 🙂 Well, actually it’s a chorus recording and to be honest I’m visible for less than a second, the usual fate when you’re neither young nor beautiful nor a show talent 😉
It’s a chorus competition hosted by our TV/radio station and the country song we contributed is currently online. If you are curious (and if the video is not blocked) click on the 8th chorus “Ladies First aus Dortmund”:
http://www.wdr3.de/schwerpunkte/singen-macht-gluecklich/voting210.html
Voting for us would be nice, but the German spam-block-question at the bottom is a problem. We hope to reach the final in May, a live TV broadcast.
April 21, 2015 at 2:35 pm
Birgit,
I used to be a night owl but then my job changed and I started to get up 5:00 so early to bed was my lot. I used to be up until all hours of the night in the summer but then I had to work summers.
Now I am sometimes up late, 1:30-2:00, and I get to sleep in and I do.
I went and saw the picture but didn’t find the video. What song did you sing dressed a cowgirls?
I’d vote for you if I knew what they were asking.
April 21, 2015 at 2:44 pm
Click on “Ladies First aus Dortmund” or just try this link:
http://www.wdr3.de/schwerpunkte/singen-macht-gluecklich/videoladiesfirstausdortmund100.html
The country song is No No Never, it was a big hit over here but is unknown in the States.
Unfortunately it’s a different question each time you open the page.
April 21, 2015 at 2:58 pm
I read your answer again, you’ve had probably found the site mentioned above. Should work if you just click on the big picture. Otherwise it’s probably blocked.
April 21, 2015 at 5:45 pm
Thanks, Birgit
I finally heard the song, and it’s great.
Why the cowboy outfits and the boots?
April 21, 2015 at 6:42 pm
Cowgirl outfit because the song is part of our barbershop country music program and the original song is known as country song over here. What do we know about real American country music 😉 The video should be here (it’s blocked for us so I can’t see it), Germany’s 2006 contribution to the annual European must-see completely over-the-top show with Russian grannies and other bad music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvTuDL8dwiI
April 21, 2015 at 6:55 pm
Oops, sorry, wrong link above, this is the original big show version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKvPzL1NSSI
April 21, 2015 at 7:04 pm
Birgit,
I probably know as little as you about country music. I haven’t ever been a fan.
I get the cacti and the western outfits on the band, but I’m thinking she is no western singer in that pink dress.
Thanks for clearing up why the cowgirls and thanks for the new link!
April 21, 2015 at 3:58 pm
Hi Kat,
I’ve always been an early morning person. Pre-dawn even. I love the way the temperature drops a little bit before dawn and it gets quiet for a little space of time before the birds start singing their dawn songs. It’s like shift change between the night creatures and the day creatures.
When I retired I told myself I was not ever getting out of bed before the sun was up. I have mostly kept that vow but I still wake up very, very early and lounge about until then. Someday I’ll set up some way to sleep on my front porch in good weather so I’ll be able to lounge about and enjoy the sounds of shift change too.
This morning was pouring rain and thunderstorms. But it turned into a lovely day if mostly cloudy.
Enjoy the day.
April 21, 2015 at 5:54 pm
Hi Caryn,
In my younger days I sometimes fell asleep around dawn. I loved the quiet of the nights when I was the only one awake. I am seldom in bed before midnight and usually later, but I sleep 7 to 8 hours so I miss the earliest part of the morning.
I hated getting up at 5 but I like the time I had to have coffee and watch the news. The paper was sometimes there by 5:30 so I’d read that. I’d leave for work by 6:20. I don’t miss those days at all.
Beautiful and warm this afternoon!
Have a great evening!!
April 21, 2015 at 5:52 pm
When I was young I could sleep in no matter what time I went to bed. Now that I am ‘mature’ I am up between five and five thirty every morning. After visiting the bathroom I have a hard time going back to sleep and usually just stay up. I went from a night owl to a morning person somewhere along the way. I just can’t remember when the transition took place. We had thunder storms this morning and beautiful clear skies this afternoon with a high temperature of 69 degrees. Tomorrow I have to go back to work.
Batting around is when the first player up in an inning comes back to bat in the same inning.
April 21, 2015 at 6:02 pm
Bob,
I can go back to sleep even if I make a bathroom trip. I’m a great sleeper. I never used to sleep on planes, but on my last trip I slept 5 hours, but it is easy to sleep when your seat becomes a bed.
I went in a circle from night person to day and then sort of in the middle.
Beautiful day here today.
I agreed up above with ten but the controversy rages, “Niners, meanwhile, argue that a team has batted around when every player in the order has completed his turn at-bat—even if the ninth batter makes the final out. In the record-keeping world, it seems the answer is nine.”
April 21, 2015 at 8:58 pm
I didn’t realize there was a controversy until I read the WSJ today, I always assumed it was 10 but clearly there is no consensus.
April 21, 2015 at 9:04 pm
MDH,
I thought 10 right off but then I did some hunting and found out there is no definitive answer.
April 22, 2015 at 8:42 pm
yes, it is perplexing ! Anxious to head back to Boston in a few weeks and then to the Cape. Fingers crossed for decent weather
April 22, 2015 at 8:51 pm
Aimee,
Today was a beauty- a bit chill but still a nice day. I’d like to think it can only get better, The flowers are now fro sale at the garden spots. That’s the best sign.