AN EARLY START

Monday eh. I am tired.

I think that’s because I got up early on Saturday morning to take the Intrepids to the coach stop. They were on their way to the Isle of Man, and for some reason the coach needed to leave from Sainsbury’s at 5am.

“We tried to book a taxi,” said my Mum, “But they wanted fifteen pounds! It’s only two minutes down the road!”

I was happy to do it. I quite like that time of day.

The birds were in fine voice as I quietly clicked the front door shut. Sammy was asleep; I had thrown on clothes and crept out of the house under the pink sky and gilt-edged vapour trails.

The air is so fresh. There’s no sound (other than the birds) and it feels as though the world has yet to see what hope and happiness lies ahead. I climbed into the car, immediately turned the radio down and started the engine.

I feel as though it would do me some good to be up early more often. The pandemic stole my commute and made me lazy, and now that I’m a fully remote worker, I have less pressure than ever to make an early start.

The roads were empty. I sped towards red traffic lights and watched as they quickly switched to green, as though somehow in honour of me. The fifteen minute journey was done in ten, and before the clock ticked over to the eleventh minute I had arrived at the Intrepids’.

“The Isle of Man eh,” said someone later. “Have they gone for the TT races?”

I said I hoped not.

Anyway, we were just in time for the 5am coach. I watched it pull away. Weird. I kind of wished I were going with them. I’m not sure what’s on the Isle of Man but it seemed like an adventure - a journey somewhere new, a trip that might yield some stories.

I sat in Sainsbury’s car park for a while. The sun was about to burst above the dark trees and the sky was turning from soft pink to summer blue. A white plane glinted, some birds fluttered into the morning sky, and far away, Venus twinkled as though studded like a tiny diamond in a velvet cushion.

By all accounts it was looking like a very promising summer day. I drove home, back to my sleeping wife, feeling quite happy with my early morning adventure.

Perhaps I should do it more often. Perhaps I should get up once in a while to see the sun come up and hear the birds sing it through the sky?

The only downside is the delayed tiredness, the swirl of exhaustion that rippled through my weekend and crashed over me this morning.

Ah well. It was kind of worth it. I got to see my parents and I felt fresher and more alive than I have in a while. Maybe I should have asked where my fifteen pounds was? Of course not. I’d happily do that all again for nothing, even with the onset tiredness.