Good morning sunshine

I am a ridiculously early riser, even though as a freelancer there is no real reason for me to be. Given that I don't spend an hour or more battling public transport to get to work like most people, I could conceivably spend that time snuggled up in the land of zzzzz and still be at my desk by 9am. Instead I'm up by 6.30am at the latest most days and yes, I'm afraid that includes weekends. When I was still in bed at 7.10am last Sunday, I congratulated myself on having a "sleep-in".

I wasn't always like this. When I was younger I used to love sleeping in on weekends, rolling out of bed at 10 or 11am, or even later if I'd been out clubbing 'til the early hours. Now I've become one of those people I used to shake my head in disbelieve at when I emerged from a club to discover that not only was it light but there were people doing outlandish things like walking their dogs, going for coffee and buying the papers... What were they thinking?!

Of course the early morning is very different depending on which direction you approach it from: bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after a sound night's sleep or bleary-eyed and footsore after a night out on the tiles. Regular dirty stop-outs soon learn to pop their sunnies in a pocket or evening bag to protect them from the sun's unwelcome rays after a big night out. Or so I've been told...

With my clubbing days well behind me (my prerequisites for a good night out these days are comfy seats, a decent wine list and music that's not too loud to hear over), I find that I really am a morning person. Apart from anything else, with no ringing phones or other distractions, it's just so much easier to get things done.

All of which is leading up to the fact that I didn't find it in the least bit strange when my friend J suggested that I might like to have coffee with him this Saturday at "the ungodly hour of 7 or 8am". A new dad, J often finds himself walking the streets of the Inner West with his infant son on weekend mornings, presumably to give mum the chance of a sleep-in. Much as I would have loved to have met the bub, sadly I wasn't able to say yes, this week at least - I already have somewhere I need to be at 9am...