The Uncarved Blog

I am not, nor have I ever been, a morning person.

Back when we were in our MA program together, Ben used to make fun of me because, regardless of what time he stopped by my apartment to go to class, inevitably I would have just woken up. He would be ready to hit the road, and I would still be stumbling around, trying to find a clean pair of jeans to put on. Poor Ben. I made him late for Poetry Workshop so many times in the Fall of 01.

I could chalk that situation up to the dangers of grad school: late nights, too much caffeine (and back then for me, too much nicotine, too), too little sleep, and too much stress. But the truth is, I’ve always had a hard time waking up in the morning. I sleep through several alarms. Once I do wake up, it’s difficult for me to move out from under the covers. Ben almost always gets up before me and has to coax me out of bed with the promise of coffee. I stumble around sleepy-faced for about an hour, and no one should tell me anything important before 10 am.

But lately, that’s all been changing. I’ve been waking up naturally 15 to 20 minutes before my alarm goes off. I have been nearly alert and awake when I get up in the morning. And the most surprising thing is that I’ve been out of bed before Ben! He’s still snoring away, and I’m up and making coffee, checking email, and writing to my blog, as is the case even as we speak.

I hope this isn’t a sign that I’m getting old. Or at least older. It probably is. Give me five years, and I’ll be popping out of bed like a turkey timer at 5:00 in the morning.