early morning

I don't know why some mornings come earlier than others. This one began around 5:30. I used to blame it on Robin who sleeps on the bed each night but that is unfair. This particular day I woke her as I do many a morning. There was a time, long ago when I could sleep til noon or even 2 in the afternoon. Of course that was in the teen years. I often wonder if those years were just a dream, but then I have less time to dream due to early awakenings.
These days my eyes open in the cover of darkness. Once those babies are open it's mandatory to get up. Lingering in bed is not an option. My body just won't stand for it. Perhaps it's the habit of rising year after year to prepare for work. It was my routine to get up immediately upon the alarm clanging away on the night stand. No snooze button here. Never was a snooze button. I awoke, I sat upright and threw my legs over the edge of the bed. My cohorts always spoke of the snooze button that they hammered with the heel of their hands in a 5 minute ritual for 30 or more minutes.
I don't know if it was a sense of duty, knowing I had to work that day, or simply a biological thing. I lean more to duty which was drilled into me. The job calls. It's a duty to answer the call. When married it was most vital to earn the wage to keep the family afloat. After divorce it was to keep two families afloat. When the kids were on their own it was a deeply ingrained habit. One I did not lose obviously.
In retirement it would be loverly to sleep in. Or to lie awake as the sun comes up. Yet here I am up and stumbling around looking for a second cup of coffee to bring around consciousness. I never said I was awake fully. I'm up. Like a zombie but without the taste for bbrraaiinsss.....
OK. Time for that secomd cuppa brown.