Morning Rituals

Dear Diary,

I have certain morning rituals that I do every day.  Before I retired, they began at 5:15 am.  Now is is closer to 7 am.  (I have never been one to sleep in!)  First, of course, is feeding Emerson.  Maybe that's why I can't sleep late.  A gentle paw will stoke my cheek if I'm not up by 7.  Emerson has his morning rituals too!


Coffee at the computer while I check email and post on my photo journal.  My internet connection is haphazard at best but mornings I am more able to upload pictures.  At breakfast there is always my current book propped up to read and then I will read a "thought for the day".  This morning it comes from Henry David Thoreau: Be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade but of thought.

Then I write in my journal for at least a half hour, usually with Emerson sitting on my lap, which complicates things a bit but Emerson is very much a part of my daily routine.  In the "old days" all this would take about an hour but now, when time is less an issue, it can be two hours or even more.  The best thing about retirement is this new relationship I have with the clock.  Even when I travel I keep to this morning ritual if I can.  I think it is a good thing to have a certain structure to your life at the beginning of the day even if the rest of the day is chaotic.  Emerson agrees. (Time for his little saucer of milk!)