Do you have a favourite time of the day? I certainly do
My favourite time of day is very specific. It is between 6.50am and 7.14am.
The minute the alarm goes off, any time between 6am and 6.30am (except on a Monday when it is 5.30am) my first thought is “what am I doing today and can I squeeze in an afternoon nap”. Not that I ever do squeeze a nap into my day but I like to start the day knowing I could if I wanted to.
So it is a quick jump in the shower and get dressed between alarm and about 6.50am. At that point I just stand and stare out of the spare bedroom window at the garden. Not so much fun in the winter when it is dark, admittedly, but there is something about “just standing” for ten minutes that grounds me for the rest of the day. When the mornings are brighter or the sun is shining it is a great view. But actually it isnt about the view as such. It is about me just standing still on my own. Does that sound odd?
Then I catch up on the outside world. I read emails, check Twitter, check the paper online and find out what is happening in the world as the household slowly wakes up.
I take in the silence and the stillness in the air, knowing it won’t happen again until tomorrow morning. There is very little of either of those things in my daytime EVER and as an only child I do find silence important. My phone never stops during the day. I run four email accounts so there always a variety of bongs, beeps, songs playing out with each notification. Children coming and going. Volunteering with Victim Support. Emails for Fleet Carnival. Food shopping. Dog walking. Blah blah. The list could be endless. So this is my only chance to be just me. Me. Just me.
I clear my head. And then I spend a few minutes trying to work out how I am going to cram everything into the day, reminding myself who needs to be where and when and then I feel ready to face the world.
Some women say that it is putting their make up on that makes them feel ready for the day. Not me. It is that half an hour of just being on my own.
Then I take a deep breath and go and give E the good news that it is 7.15am and time to get up.
And so it begins for the next 23 and a half hours.