Chickens and Night Owls

I am an early riser. Even on the weekends I am usually out of bed between 5:30am and 6am. I know that sounds crazy to most people. Even as a child, I would lay awake for hours in my bed waiting for someone else in the household to wake up so I could get up. (The rule on weekend mornings was "BE QUIET!" at our house.) Daddy would leave early to go to the ranch and Mama would try to catch a few extra ZZZZZs.

We lived in the Little Town the first 8 years of my life before moving to the ranch. What did most every child in America do on Saturday mornings? WATCH CARTOONS! Sounds lame but we did it. My brother and I would tiptoe across the hardwood floors to the living room. We would sit as close to the television as we dared and barely turn up the volume. We weren't allowed to eat in the living room for fear that something would get spilled. So we would eat cereal right out of the box and flick the crumbs under the television. WITHOUT FAIL, we would get braver as the morning wore on and slowly turn up the volume. Yep, you guessed it -- Mama would holler from the bedroom, "TURN DOWN THAT TV!"

The majority of my family are night owls. They can stay up til midnight and still function normally the following day. On an average, my bedtime is between 8:30pm and 9pm. I've been known to retire as early as 8pm. Mind you, I'm getting up between 4:30am and 5am on weekdays. I know its a disppointment at family get-togethers when they start pulling out the dominoes at 8pm and I am saying goodnight. The sun goes down and I'm looking for my nest.

With the family scheduled to descend upon Mama's house beginning next weekend, I am hoping I can manage to play at least one round of Chicken Foot before turning into a pumpkin.