When the inner clock sends an alarm to the sleeping brain that it is time to rise and shine, sometimes that inner clock needs to have the snooze button pushed.
I don’t mind waking up at 4:30 a.m. to the sound of birds chirping and the sun already up and shining brightly in the window. It is a perfect time to rise from bed, have some juice, check e-mails and do other tasks before the rest of the world is alerted to the dawning of a new day.
But when my inner clock tells me to get moving a 4:30 in the morning when the birds haven’t thought of the song they will sing, and the sun is still letting the moon rule the sky, that suggests to me spring and summer are over and autumn and winter are quickly starting to rule the roost.
For an early riser, it is discouraging to be forced to turn on the lights to find one’s way to the bathroom and then the kitchen. It is pointless to look out the window to ensure nothing is out of place on the avenue. Even the SaskPower street lights are not sharp enough to get rid of the shadows created by the wind in the trees.
A quick look at the calendar will remind us that this land of growing darkness is not new: it happens every year around this time so why are we surprised?
And with the quickly moving days comes the return to the classrooms for energetic students and teachers who will be rejuvenated after some summer relaxation at the beach or in the backyard.
Stores have been promoting back-to-school sales since June, just in case parents, teachers or students might have a moment of amnesia. And despite lists of supplies having gone home with students or posted on social media sites, there are cries for assistance from the homes where the list has been misplaced or ignored until the last minute.
Back in the olden days, we went to school with a new pencil, some crayons, one or two notebooks or scribblers as we called them, and whatever slightly used supplies that could be salvaged from the previous term. Then we scurried to Moose Jaw in the afternoon of the first day of school to purchase the required textbooks we didn’t know we needed until that first morning. No wonder it was a half day of learning followed by a half day of spending.
In the one-room, many-class-together school in our village, it was seldom that teachers changed over the summer. Teacher knew us and we all knew the teacher so there was no time wasted in getting to know each other. And if a new student and family had moved into the village, that was the highlight of the first day, hoping to have a new friend and someone to play with at recess. We were over the moon when four new students showed up one year.
In keeping with tradition, I will now share the highlights of what I/we did on our summer holiday: attended some car shows; visited two community fairs; listened to a concert featuring our friend Kelly Bourdages; went to the Sukanen grain elevator for a concert with Jeffery Straker; watched a horse show; went to Swift Current for a weekend; watched the garden grow; chased squirrels and cats out of the flower boxes and flower beds; visited Mossbank for Apple Pie Day; listened with interest to Housemate’s tales of his travels with his friends; corresponded with some long-time friends who told of holidays in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland; enjoyed the week-long visit of our great-great-niece from Calgary; supported the Legion meat draws on Saturday afternoons; and spent time sitting in the backyard whistling to the robins, but with broom nearby to chase away the rodents and feline intruders.
That’s all the excitement our aging hearts could tolerate.
Joyce Walter can be reached at [email protected]
