the longest days of the year

I wait for these long-daylight hours all year. What is it about the morning of a hot day, when it's light out before five o'clock, and you know that if you could just be up and dressed that early you could do all sorts of things inside and out before it's too warm, and sleep in the afternoon - if you needed to? Every year, I long to do this. The silky-temperatured air, the birds singing, the cool wet grass calls to me every year at this time and I feel that there's something wrong with being in bed till seven or even six when it's practically broad daylight by then.

I'm not a morning person; I come more alive in the afternoon, and it's hard to make myself go to bed early - a person does need some sleep! (especially persons in their fifties) But every year at the summer solstice I think I should, at least once - get up with the sun. So, I usually do, but once is all I seem to be able to manage.

The weather has to cooperate, of course. It doesn't seem to work as well if it isn't hot - the idea being that if you can't caper about barefoot in the morning grass, there isn't much point to rising so early in a small house with some creaky floorboards, because you don't want to be disturbing anybody. But when it's warmer days, the whole outside just calls to me.

Yesterday, I got up at 4:30! It was going to be a pretty warm day - 85 - but in the morning it was a little too damp and cool to be going out; still, I was glad and found that I could do some sewing because my machine isn't very noisy. I later went to the farmers' market and grocery shopping with a friend, and she kept asking me "How are you holding up?" and I was always fine! That was a surprise; it never seemed to catch up with me.

I really hope to continue this when possible on my days off. It's magic.

Top of the Hill, by Frank Vincent Dumond