I was up and out of my house this morning at 4:30 or so, going to pick up a friend to drop her off at the airport. Before you think ohmygod why would she do that? I have to tell you that normally I wouldn't - but she's off for two months and I wanted to do something nice for her before she left.
So, first, it was odd and peculiar and really just kind of weird that I was taking anyone (including myself, I NEVER fly that early in the morning unless I have no choice) to the airport that early in the morning. But even odder and more peculiar and even weirder was how the city felt at that time on a Sunday morning.
I cuoldn't believe how many apartments downtown were lit up. So maybe some of them were people who fell asleep watching TV and didn't turn the lights out - happens to me occasionally so I get that. But there were a lot. Even odder than that? There were - in the 10 minutes it took me to go from my place to her place - at least 10 people on the street. Walking. Riding their bikes. One guy was even crossing the street in front of me talking to someone on his cellphone! At 5:00 o'clock on Sunday morning. That was weirder than weird.
Because who could he be talking to? Who else was going to be up at 5:00 o'clock on a Sunday morning? I felt like I'd been transported into another world, an alternate universe, somewhere I'd certainly never been before.
I guess there are people who live their lives opposite to me. I don't guess, I even know some of them. I have a friend, also a writer, who is a baker, and David has lived all of his grown-up life working the night shift. Even on vacation he goes to bed in the morning and stays up over the night. Last night I met a man who works for himself, has an internet business, and that's what he does too. He, like David, seldom sees the morning.
I wonder what kind of person I'd be if I hadn't spent most of my grown-up life getting up to go to work in the morning? Would I be a night person? It will - if I ever get the chance - be interesting to find out.
What about you?
Kate
About Me
- Kate Austin
- I live on the ocean, write women's fiction, love to read so much that it's an addiction rather than a hobby (I read an average of a book a day). I live on the wet west coast so it's a good thing that I like to walk in the rain.
2 comments:
You'd find the lights on at our house at 5 a.m., maybe even earlier. I'm an early riser, by choice. Larks, we're called.
Funny, Kathy, because I wasn't thinking of people who were up early - not larks. I was thinking of people who were obviously coming home at that time of the morning. I guess it was because I felt as if I'd gotten up only a couple of hours after I might have gone to bed.
Kate
Post a Comment