Waking up with the sun
A storm rarely wakes me up in the middle of the night. Sunday morning was an exception as a strong storm line moved through the area about 5 o’clock in the morning.
I went into the den, a place where lightning storms are often amplified by the large glass windows. However, it was only raining this morning. The gentle rhythm of the rain on the roof and windows gradually put me to sleep again as I relaxed in my recliner.
I usually wake with the sunrise, so I sleep longer in Winter and get up earlier as daylight increases. AI estimates I should wake 1 hour and 2 minutes earlier now than on December 21, the Winter Solstice, which is the shortest day of the year.
Auburn experienced 11 hours and three minutes of sunlight today. During January, daylight extends by about one to two minutes daily. In February, we gain two to three more minutes each day, and by March, the increase reaches roughly three minutes per day. My body clock adapts to these changes in the mornings, but I find it harder to adjust at night.
The main obstacle in my daily routine is what I do right after waking up. Most mornings, I grab my iPad from the bedside table and start by checking the weather channel, catching up on the news, and reading a few newspapers. Then, ideally, I get moving for a walk or head to the gym. However, there are times when the internet draws me in, and before I know it, I’ve lost an hour or more scrolling through endless — and often unhelpful — information.
Once a week my phone reports on my online usage, a number that always surprises me and has increased since retirement. Since about a third to half of that time is spent on audiobooks and news, I don’t consider all of it wasted.
Social media can be surprisingly time-consuming. By deleting Facebook from my iPad and only keeping it on my phone, which stays in the bathroom at night, I’ve reduced nighttime browsing, gained more free time, improved sleep, and likely lowered my blood pressure.
Although my body clock has always woken me up at sunrise, I didn’t use to face the many distractions that fill our days now. When I was a child, there were just three TV channels, no FM radio, only one newspaper each day, and no computers, cell phones, or internet.
When we were young, we put a lot of energy into both work and play, most of which was physical. Today, shifts in our lifestyles have led to a significant rise in obesity and other health problems.
To make things even more challenging, in just three weeks we’ll deal with the dreaded “Spring Forward” when our clocks are set forward. It typically takes me a few weeks to adjust each Spring, and even longer when we turn the clocks back in Autumn. These changes seem to be harder as I get older.
Tomorrow at 6:24 a.m., sunlight will begin streaming through the eastern windows of our bedroom. When it wakes me, as I expect it will, I’ll get out of bed and go to the gym, making sure I spend no more than ten minutes on my phone beforehand. We will see how that goes.
At this point in my life, I’ve discovered that waking up comes far more easily than actually getting out of bed. With any luck, I’ll do better sticking to this mid-year resolution than I typically manage with ones made at year’s end.
Dan Ponder can be reached at [email protected]