Ewe beauty, it is early!
new beginningearlycoffeeThis morning I got up early to get the first super-off-peak train of the day. Why? Well, mainly there have been a lot of storms about and I didn't fancy getting stuck in Swindon on my first day at a new job.
I've realised I started this week-notey blog thing in August last year, and then promptly left is alone until now.
As I was sitting on the platform waiting for the train to arrive, it occurred to me to think about all the other types of early mornings I have had in my life so far. I was trying really hard to stay awake.
Every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
Back when I was 16 I lived in the bottom dorm in an all-girls catholic boarding school with 6 other people who became some of my closest friends. Besides eating a lot of kettle-made koka noodles (it is a fine art), and doing the whole learning thing, we also had to go to church 3 days a week. Mass on Tuesday and Thursday involved getting up ridiculously early (for teen me). Sometimes, on feast days, we'd have to get up even earlier and process around the front of the abbey in the cold chanting things in Latin. I have a very strong memory of perfecting the art of falling asleep while looking like I was praying.
Oh Mary
As a child I remember family holidays taking a lot of organising, and often times they involved being up super early. There was one trip we took where all 7 of us bundled into the car, with a trailer that was mainly full of Rice Crispies as this was all my youngest siblings would consistently eat at the time. Our destination? France. I can remember one detail that was something common to all our family trips - the stress and drama that I carefully avoided and sometimes stoked with humour. Mum always sat in the passenger seat, Dad always drove. Mum always had a map, Dad always got lost. You draw your own conclusions!
Eventually, communication in the front seats would break down, 'Jesus Kenneth, we are lost!'. The phrase: 'Jesus Kenneth' sounds harsh, but over time it has become something of a comfort, if Mum doesn't say it, something is very wrong. It is only now, many years later, that I have begun to see how my mother was very much trying to handle her anxiety at trying to get 5 children and a spouse to France, with all limbs attached, and every thing that went slightly wrong made that anxiety sky rocket. I feel bad for starting back-of-car chorus of 'Oh Mary, why don't you have some sense? Please do something to restore our con-fid-ence...'. I have great love and respect for my parents, but I also cannot stand when things get overly stressful, I will do anything to lighten the mood. My way is humour and song.
What even is a caramel macchiato?
Before one of my Roman Britain university exams I had my first caramel macchiato brought to me by my friend Brenda to help me through the exam after my very early start. I was always cramming, always left things until the last minute. I've not had a caramel macchiato since that day, because my god the high was madness, but I now drink more coffee than a person should.
London is a place
I moved to London in 2008 and I spent a good 4 years not loving it. One spring morning at 5:45 am I got up to take pictures for a graphic design project for university, I had never seen London so quiet. I started reading Iain Sinclair's Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire and looking at things differently and eventually growing to love London and all the places you could walk to.
This morning
I start a new job today. After 7 years working at the Financial Times, first as a Creative Manager in a marketing team, then a Junior Software Engineer, and finally a Software Engineer. I don't know how today will go, but I am hopeful. If nothing else, thinking about the many different kinds of early mornings has made me remember there are always a lot of different ways to see things. Which brings me around to what I spent my train journey doing: looking at 19th Century paintings of animals. I can't say that these animals looked like the real-life versions, but you know what? That's ok, we get the idea. Check out this Ewe, and remember, ewe're great
- Next: Making things.
- Previous: Finally joining the party.