Years ago, somewhere in one of these blogs, I wrote that I like to write, but don’t need to write. I may have to revise that observation a bit. For the past two weeks I’ve skipped my morning writing sessions, and my days feel off-kilter as a result.
Since I retired seven years ago, my morning routine has been writing followed by exercise. From about 7am until 10, I drink coffee and write. From 10 until noon, I either ride my bike or go to the gym. Even if I do nothing else afterwards, there is a sense of completeness. I am a strong supporter of wasted days, but doing nothing afternoons and evenings is more enjoyable when I exercise my brain and my body in the morning.
For the past two weeks, however, I have not written in the morning. Jack, our dog, had surgery, and his recovery is not going well. He needs 24-hour observation, and I’ve taken the midnight to seven shift. I sleep very little during the night, then crash once Manyu gets up. I still go to the gym before noon, but I sleep through my usual writing time. My original plan had been to adjust my internal clock by four or five hours, but that has not worked in terms of writing. If I sleep through my morning writing session, it is lost. Writing later in the day is not as much fun, nor are the results as good. This blog is a good example. I wrote the first draft after dinner. It’s not horrible, but it’s not going to make my “Top 100” list. Apparently I am an old man who cannot handle change.
Jack is making incremental improvements, and he recently came off his pain medications. Hopefully he will stop staring into space and tripping over scatter rugs. Once Jack comes out of his fog, so might I. It can’t come soon enough.
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