I am not a night owl.

I'm at my most enthusiastic and clearest just prior to sunrise and until the time the rest of the people start stirring around 9 or 10 or 11 depending on the day.

I absolutely love being up before the majority of the community. I love the moments of darkness before the sun peaks over the horizon, listening to the sound of the coffee noisily percolating. I love being the first voyager after a snowfall; fouling the perfect blanket, setting the route for those to follow. I love walking alone down the street as the sun is breaking pink through the trees and illuminating the drab buildings in a warmth they will no long possess by the time full sun has hit. I love being the only one here in the basement of the Natural Science building, working... sort of. I love being able to play whatever music I want, put my legs up on the desk, not have to worry about being a model employee to my stuffy employer, and being able to use the men's bathroom, which is closer than the women's.

Maybe it comes from my personal requirement to be permitted my alone time, with those few short hours in the morning feeling the most solitary. I can move at a slow, calmed pace before being spun in a chaotic whirlwind the rest of my day will present, with errands and social obligations and work loads.

Or maybe it's for the sense of being and optimism I achieve from seeing simple sights a lot of people in this college town probably rarely see: the rising sun, the warm buildings, the chattering and excited birds in the trees, the empty streets and sidewalks, the sense of pleasurable alone-ness.