Up early

Most recent Mandolin block laid out, minus the perimeter diamonds.

Being awake at 4.21 a.m. (when I began writing this post) happens occasionally. It's not due to being uncaffeinated, I'd like to think I'm over that adjustment. It's partly due to a rather cool night that my summer duvet wasn't quite prepared for; later today I'll switch it out to the autumn quilt better suited to keeping me warm. It was also partly due to being near the end of my novel, HURRAY! Which is interpreted by Semi-conscious Me when waking at not quite 3 a.m. as, "Hmmm. It's early, yes, but I've slept a good stretch and well, if I don't immediately go back to sleep, I could get up, make the morning decaf brews, then sit for a bit, wake up a little more, then start today's chapter." Yeah, that's how I roll sometimes, not much I can do about it.

But after perusing my fave internet sites (Wikipedia, the weather, catching up with what Bluey episodes I've seen), I wasn't ready to write. I might WANT to write, however my mental bandwidth for decent creative work requires a modicum of alertness that has yet to be achieved. But a blog post? Sure, LOLOL! That's a wholly different kind of writing that if I'm a tad loopy can be disguised as, "Oh yeah, I've been up since not quite three this morning."

Which is not to say, dear reader, that I disregard your time in digesting this entry by merely knocking off some trivial hoo haa just for the sake of it. But in addition to writing, sewing, and blathering about myself in the past, present, and future tenses, this blog is also about me in a wider sense that those previously listed important elements shape, but not define. Not that getting up at this stupid hour of the day (night) sets who I am in stone, other than to note in getting older (ahem, this blog is also about that sweetheart), sleeping well EVERY SINGLE NIGHT isn't always a given. I sleep well most nights. I am also up early most mornings, albeit not this early.

Yet here I am. Awake. And it's now 4.34 a.m. I retrieved the space heater from my office closet as it was just a wee bit chilly, the first time I've required that small push of extra warmth since last spring, which is fitting as here in America today is the official start of fall. Our AQI remains volatile, but the last few days have been sunny with a side of thick haze. Rain is forecast for Monday and God willing we'll get enough not only to clear the skies but douse the fires causing more problems than crappy air quality. I can't complain about the AQI because when temps were warmer, we were blessed with winds that blew the smoke north into Oregon, allowing us to sleep unfettered with open windows. But it's forty-seven degrees Fahrenheit out right now, no need to crack the window, and better to breathe with it closed.

Which doesn't have much to do with not sleeping, merely an early morning observation, blah blah blah. I could digress about my book, but I won't, in that a few chapters remain, although how many remains a mystery. Yet at nearly eighty-six K, the end is in sight, a big heartache still to craft, another cliffhanger to unfurl. No further spoilers to reveal, lol, other than action adventure, while not my usual domain, is going okay, but boy I can't wait to get to the next installment, more tuned to my melodrama/love story wheelhouse. That's a consideration for October, which at this rate will arrive far sooner than I imagined. Or it feels that way as this day has begun before I dreamed it would.

Okay, maybe I'm awake now. Or perhaps I require another warm but uncaffeinated beverage. In any case, I think I've said within this post all that needs saying. Or stating. Or yeah, it's early. I'm awake. Best of luck with that Present Me, ba-dump-bump!