Up early

Yes, I know it's 5:40 a.m. on a Saturday morning. However, it's quiet.

I like quiet. In fact, I love quiet. I've always loved quiet, even back in the days when I was single and had as much of it as I wanted.

All the dust that swirls through my mind gets a chance to settle when I'm up in the early morning hours. No one is interrupting me. There's no new input. I can process thoughts and impressions and ideas.

The refrigerator hums. The cars swish by outside our living room window. I sip my decaf, and gather the odds and ends that fell off my mental to-do list.

Alone can be one of the most beautiful words in the English language.