Today is an ugly day. It rained heavily all night, and the rain, now only a drizzle, continues on and off. The wind is strong and cold. I was out earlier but am now home wearing my cozies and drinking coffee. I am staying put for the rest of the day.

When I lived in Ghana, mornings started in different ways. I never had an alarm clock. I always woke up early enough. During my live-in, I could hear the muezzin call for morning prayers from the small mosque on the side street my bedroom faced. I didn’t know the words, but the call became familiar. I’d sort of drowsily wake, listen, then fall back to sleep. When I was at my own house, the rooster was the most intrusive. I tried keeping him in the dark shower room so he wouldn’t wake me up with his crowing, but it didn’t work. I didn’t really care all that much. I usually fell back to sleep anyway. My students had morning chores. One of the chores was sweeping the compound. That included the dirt in front of my house. I’d wake to the sound of the straw hand broom being swished against the dirt. I could hear my students talking. It was always early, far too early. I had them stop cleaning in front of my house.

When I went back to Ghana, I visited my live-in family. The house where I stayed was still there but empty. I went up to my room and onto the porch outside my room. The small mosque was there on the side street, but speakers had been added on each side of the roof. I wished it was time for the call to prayer. Outside my hotel bathroom in Bolga, a rooster greeted the morning. I loved it. All of a sudden I was in my small house on the school compound listening to my intrusive rooster.

I had a clock radio for years. It was the iconic brown radio with sliding buttons on the top for the alarm and the radio tuning. It had an actual clock on the front. It was set for 5:15 every work day. It was turned off for weekends. When it was years old, the buttons broke. I had to use a small screw driver to move the metal slide. When I retired, I kept the radio so I could see the time, but I never used the alarm. A few years back the radio finally gave up the ghost. It was unceremoniously tossed away.

Alexa is my clock now. The first thing I do when I wake up every morning is ask her the time. She is set with only one alarm, for Wednesday mornings when I have my uke lesson. Alexa is sometimes annoying.