I’m not a morning person, I never have been. Even when I wake up early, which for me is anything before 8:00, I take a long time to wake up. I need quiet and at least two cups of coffee before I can face even a warm, sunny, gorgeous day. When Autumn comes and the sun doesn’t even peek out from under the covers until around 7:30, I don’t stand a chance. Naturally, our fearless leader has scheduled painting class to begin at 8:30, instead of 9:00 as it previously was. I hadn’t realized he had a streak of sadism in him, he seems so nice.
In order to get to the studio by 8:30, I need to leave my house no later than 8.
In order to leave by 8, I have to be on my second cup of coffee, which means I really need to get out of bed by 7.
In order to get out of bed by 7, I need to be asleep by 11:00 and that’s a real problem for me. Sure, I can go to bed early, like anyone else but I don’t fall asleep. It does me no good to toss and turn for two hours, I may as well be watching Gotham. Worse than that: if I wake up at 5:30 or 6, I run the risk of falling back into a deep sleep, which takes me two hours to cycle through. If I’m awakened somewhere in the middle of that, I get the sleep bends and the day is shot before it even begins.
I know: no one is going to be taking a knee for me anytime soon.
What a whiner I am.
I brought my second cup of coffee with me on the drive this morning. I was only ten minutes late (there was a fender bender on 62 right after France Ave. No one was hurt but it slowed traffic way down) and the others were just voting on where to go paint, so I quickly seconded everyone’s choice and off we went.
We headed for a lovely little pond behind the local jail.
The sky was overcast, the cottonwoods majestic and the pond mirror-like. It was gorgeous!
Over the course of the morning we had a really good time and everyone produced a nice beginning. The overcast sky kept the rising sun from changing the look of the pond too much and although an occasional breeze rippled the surface, it stayed mirror-like enough to paint. We finally put up our brushes when we could no longer feel our fingers. It didn’t seem that cold when we started but standing still in wet grass for three hours in 50 degrees tends to have a numbing effect on the extremities.
I was driving the KIA today because Jay needed the van. He was busy tracking down portable basketball hoops for a charter school downtown. Several of his former players work there and Jay found out that they have no hoops in their gym. He knew that with the help of Craig’s List, he could fix that quickly and cheaply but he needed the van. I like to be helpful, so I let him take it. I’m practically a saint.
When I got home after class, he had already delivered the hoop and he invited me out for lunch! I took a long, hot shower and when I could feel my fingers again, we went to Panera Bread. Our lunch was excellent and we picked up dinner at Target on the way home. I got a lot of work done while Jay whipped up a shrimp and andouille stew in the crock pot. It smells heavenly.
Right about lunch time, the clouds blew off to the East and the afternoon was sparkling! As I write this, the front door is wide open and I can see the soccer game in the park underneath a vermillion sunset. I love Autumn.
But I’m definitely going to get myself a big ol’ Thermos to bring about a gallon of hot coffee with me to painting class.