Ours was a week that was both glorious and terrible. Bikes and bistros, disagreements and road rash. For every moment of beauty, it seemed, a futile moment trailed. Laughter around a bonfire, the bite of a mosquito. Mountain trail hunts, a bloody fall on the rocks. Trust gained. Small and ill-timed furies shouldered until not.
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In the end, the glorious won out: apologies doled out like gumdrops, a flash of a red cardinal on the trees, the height of a balloon. Brightness returning, eventually. Forgiveness again.  I’m often asked how one can train themselves to become a morning person, and I suppose the answer is that you can’t. There is a morning offered inside every new day, and it’s not necessarily the hour of the tradition. Markus has a brain that switches into overdrive no sooner than 6am, the sunrise a jolt of caffeine to his system. And well? I’d call that a good morning if ever there was one. |
For the rest of us, our sunrise is this: good news searches, coffee, The Flying Classroom on the sofa. A backyard swing, a front yard chase. Porch sweeping. High praise for a new day. (High hopes for a solid afternoon nap.)
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| Thank you for your kind words — and for so many birthday wishes already! I hope each of you find this Labor Day off so, so helpful in your many mornings ahead. |
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| Then: salmon sandwich, a dash of chipotle. Fielding questions about the life of radiation, setting afternoon schemes into motion. |
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| Tell me: what’s your morning routine? I’d love to hear! |
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| Martin planned a birthday surprise that was simple and sweet and just what I needed. (If you’d like to jump start your own biking rhythm, I’ve bundled our plans into a printable version for you here, along with a few other surprises. Enjoy!) |
And so, Max offered input, suggesting each day of my 48th year offer space for a particular song (today: Watermelon Sugar) and time spent outdoors. I added the non-negotiable habits of two chores, one hot meal (at home, instead of fridge-foraging at dinnertime), water intake. There’s space to track the book I'm reading, the prayer we’re whispering, the dreams we’re dreaming. Room for memorization of the day – a quote, a poem, a verse.
It’s the best ritual I’ve got.
