I wake up and let my alarm go off one more time before sitting up and turning it off. I feel like I left my warmth and happiness on my pillow. The chill air and morning breath are the first things I realise.
Work...
The dreaded thought comes and almost makes me lay back down again. With a groan I get dressed (Jeans and a sweater. I live the simple life.) and go downstairs to brush my teeth and eat breakfast. I look in the mirror of the bathroom and wince. My hair is a bird's nest, the forgotten eyeliner from last night is smudged all around my bleary eyes making me look like a morning monster.
Who invented Morning anyway? I think to myself. Then the answer... Oh yeah. God. As I brush my teeth, I think 'aloud', "God, I've got a bone to pick with you..."
After that intellectually stimulating conversation, I bumble down the next flight of stairs. Walking into the kitchen, I realise the time and the fact that I can't eat without making myself late. sigh
After a drink of water, I stuff my hair into a bun and put a baseball cap on. Shoving my feet into my favorite boots, I get my coat on and grab my crossing guard vest and the key the the school along with my gloves. I stand in front of my door, looking at the dark wood, through the glass and gauzy curtain folds that stand between me and the cold. It's March 25th in Vermont at 7:23 am, the sun looks to be rising from the east mountains and not a cloud in sight yet. A chill morning to be sure. Bracing myself, I call "See ya!" to whoever is listening in the house (hearing a few answer "Bye!" behind me) and walk out the door with a grumpy, nonsensical mumble.
This is where my day changes.
As I walk out the door backwards, the cold, fresh air hits me. I take a look at the door from the other side. I notice my reflection looking back at me but beyond that is a beautiful day. Turning around, I see frost on the greenish tan lawn. The road right beyond that is dry but little bits of ice are spotting the ground. I walk off the porch and down a few steps. Now I see the ground more clearly. Thousands of brilliant little sparks wink at me from the frost on the grass making the color much less noticeable, looking instead like a bed of diamonds. The road shines like glass in various spots. The other houses on the street reflect the slightly orange sun, their windows wink at me, revealing the flaws in the glass. Coughing a little on the cold air, I try to take in the beauty and clarity of the morning in one glance. I hurry across the street and onto a little dirt path through a neighbor's yard. I walk into a large shadow cast by the house to my left. The frost here is a little less pretty, but the crumbling and deteriorating leaves remind me of chocolate crumbles one puts on a cake. I come to an opening in a gate and walk through it. This is the entrance to the school property. I walk onto the basketball court, meeting the sun again though there are long shadows cast by the trees only a few yards to my left. The same ice spots cover the cement court as on the road in back of me. They too shone like glass, though much more flawless than the windows of the houses.
Looking up from the ground I see the other houses close by, looking much the same as the one on my street, but this time I could see the chimneys smoking. A vague image of a light bulb came mind when I saw these because the sun illuminated them as they rose into the sky. The last thing I noticed was the sky. Pale by the horizon the sky became only a little bluer the higher it rose. The sun, though not warm so early in the morning, cast a brilliant colored light everywhere it touched. The trees, though empty and bare, stood proudly against the sky with their various shades of light brown and the contrast of their shadows laying on the ground.
As the court ended, I had to look back at the ground so as not to trip on the frosty wood chips that crunched under my feet. They'd frozen in place so the little hills in the wood chips were easier to walk on than usual. In the summer, they'd move beneath your feet like sand and trip you up.
I passed the jungle gyms and came to the end of the wood chips where then again I would walk on cement. It looked almost the same as the road and basketball court had, only here the sun could not come because of the school buildings I walked between.
As the buildings ended and I walked around one to get the orange cones only just inside the door, the ice and frost almost blinded me. The sun greeted me as I turned the corner of the building as well. turning the key in the lock of the door, I opened the heavy maroon mettal rectangle, letting it slam shut behind me. Warmth! What a wonderful thing. I grabbed the seven heavy, plastic/rubber orange cones and kicked the door back open. Arranging them about a foot beside the curb of the road, my arms began to burn by cone number five. After walking the length of the road again to come to my crossing guard post by the cross walk, I realised no people were in sight. Not even any cars though this street was just off of Main Street. Taking a long look around at the street and parking lot, then further down the street at the houses and yards of yellow, frost covered lawns and bright smoking chimneys, I wondered at how beautiful everything looked.
The morning went quickly after people started coming. When the last people drove away in their cars, waving to their tots running up the stairs, I put the cones up on the curb so cars could park. I walk home, wood chips crunching, and think about the way I felt when I woke up compared to the way I felt when walking to the school.
"God, you showed me how wonderful the morning can be even when there is something that is not really very pleasant about it (such as it being so cold). I need to praise your work more than I do because I enjoy the fruits. Oh how I enjoy them... Thank you!"
God Bless!
Work...
The dreaded thought comes and almost makes me lay back down again. With a groan I get dressed (Jeans and a sweater. I live the simple life.) and go downstairs to brush my teeth and eat breakfast. I look in the mirror of the bathroom and wince. My hair is a bird's nest, the forgotten eyeliner from last night is smudged all around my bleary eyes making me look like a morning monster.
Who invented Morning anyway? I think to myself. Then the answer... Oh yeah. God. As I brush my teeth, I think 'aloud', "God, I've got a bone to pick with you..."
After that intellectually stimulating conversation, I bumble down the next flight of stairs. Walking into the kitchen, I realise the time and the fact that I can't eat without making myself late. sigh
After a drink of water, I stuff my hair into a bun and put a baseball cap on. Shoving my feet into my favorite boots, I get my coat on and grab my crossing guard vest and the key the the school along with my gloves. I stand in front of my door, looking at the dark wood, through the glass and gauzy curtain folds that stand between me and the cold. It's March 25th in Vermont at 7:23 am, the sun looks to be rising from the east mountains and not a cloud in sight yet. A chill morning to be sure. Bracing myself, I call "See ya!" to whoever is listening in the house (hearing a few answer "Bye!" behind me) and walk out the door with a grumpy, nonsensical mumble.
This is where my day changes.
As I walk out the door backwards, the cold, fresh air hits me. I take a look at the door from the other side. I notice my reflection looking back at me but beyond that is a beautiful day. Turning around, I see frost on the greenish tan lawn. The road right beyond that is dry but little bits of ice are spotting the ground. I walk off the porch and down a few steps. Now I see the ground more clearly. Thousands of brilliant little sparks wink at me from the frost on the grass making the color much less noticeable, looking instead like a bed of diamonds. The road shines like glass in various spots. The other houses on the street reflect the slightly orange sun, their windows wink at me, revealing the flaws in the glass. Coughing a little on the cold air, I try to take in the beauty and clarity of the morning in one glance. I hurry across the street and onto a little dirt path through a neighbor's yard. I walk into a large shadow cast by the house to my left. The frost here is a little less pretty, but the crumbling and deteriorating leaves remind me of chocolate crumbles one puts on a cake. I come to an opening in a gate and walk through it. This is the entrance to the school property. I walk onto the basketball court, meeting the sun again though there are long shadows cast by the trees only a few yards to my left. The same ice spots cover the cement court as on the road in back of me. They too shone like glass, though much more flawless than the windows of the houses.
Looking up from the ground I see the other houses close by, looking much the same as the one on my street, but this time I could see the chimneys smoking. A vague image of a light bulb came mind when I saw these because the sun illuminated them as they rose into the sky. The last thing I noticed was the sky. Pale by the horizon the sky became only a little bluer the higher it rose. The sun, though not warm so early in the morning, cast a brilliant colored light everywhere it touched. The trees, though empty and bare, stood proudly against the sky with their various shades of light brown and the contrast of their shadows laying on the ground.
As the court ended, I had to look back at the ground so as not to trip on the frosty wood chips that crunched under my feet. They'd frozen in place so the little hills in the wood chips were easier to walk on than usual. In the summer, they'd move beneath your feet like sand and trip you up.
I passed the jungle gyms and came to the end of the wood chips where then again I would walk on cement. It looked almost the same as the road and basketball court had, only here the sun could not come because of the school buildings I walked between.
As the buildings ended and I walked around one to get the orange cones only just inside the door, the ice and frost almost blinded me. The sun greeted me as I turned the corner of the building as well. turning the key in the lock of the door, I opened the heavy maroon mettal rectangle, letting it slam shut behind me. Warmth! What a wonderful thing. I grabbed the seven heavy, plastic/rubber orange cones and kicked the door back open. Arranging them about a foot beside the curb of the road, my arms began to burn by cone number five. After walking the length of the road again to come to my crossing guard post by the cross walk, I realised no people were in sight. Not even any cars though this street was just off of Main Street. Taking a long look around at the street and parking lot, then further down the street at the houses and yards of yellow, frost covered lawns and bright smoking chimneys, I wondered at how beautiful everything looked.
The morning went quickly after people started coming. When the last people drove away in their cars, waving to their tots running up the stairs, I put the cones up on the curb so cars could park. I walk home, wood chips crunching, and think about the way I felt when I woke up compared to the way I felt when walking to the school.
"God, you showed me how wonderful the morning can be even when there is something that is not really very pleasant about it (such as it being so cold). I need to praise your work more than I do because I enjoy the fruits. Oh how I enjoy them... Thank you!"
God Bless!
