About this blog

Incoming BYTES
contains highly variable subject matter including commentary on the mundane, the extraordinary and even controversial issues. At Incoming BYTES
we want YOU to think...if you dare...

Followers

Friday, April 20, 2012

R is for Reality

Reality comes early....
  This is an experiment in R for Reality.
The last minute of sleep in the morning is realityDream on. I want to enjoy every last bit of that glorious, memorable warm and comfy  snoozing.  The reality of total relaxation and sleeping with closed eyelids is fleeting. That extra bit of sleep, rest, and relaxation might be a happy coincidence --but not this morning.  



Ebony the Short plods softly around the bed.  I remain motionless, maybe the pup will  go back to bed?   No?
She rears up, taps on my arm and  woofs quietly. Time to get up, lazybones. She has an internal atomic timer with accuracy that would make NASA jealous.
I open one eye. She's watching, her head is curiously cocked to one side.  She encourages me to keep the eyes open. I resist.

 The sun is trying to shine in the window too. Pulling the comforter over the head works for a minute. Forget it. You can't fool old Sol or  Ebony the Short. She keeps tapping away;  I know you're under there, so get up, lazybones. 
There's not much air hiding under a comforter anyway. Morning breath sucks.  Is there any respite available for a tired, desperate man? 
 Not this morning. She's got that built-in alarm clock and a devious plan. She picks up her red and white rope pull-toy and heads to the door. Let's play.  "I wanna play. Right now".

  "Not me, dog. I'm back to bed. Right now."
  
A measurably louder 'woof'. Oh yeah?  How unlikely. Tilly the Tall stretches. She agrees.

 Alas,  it's morning,  and I check twice just to be sure. Tired eyes squint at the red neon numbers on the digital clock. Hopefully the time is wrong. Digital clocks can be wrong, can't they?
Nope.   It's reality, right on time. It's reliable. That figures.

Reality is now  7:01 am.  No escape.  No wonderful time continuum mistakes or helpful quantum  errors.  This is earth calling. No choice. Reality sucks too. 
  I have to get up first, hitting the cool hardwood floor. Someone  plods sleepily to the door, buck naked, wondering why he should not be enjoying some other reality, --you know the one, where the terrestrial keeps sleeping, eyes closed,  snoozing buck naked? Not today.  Reality insists. The universe objects. I try to squint at the clock  above the coffee-maker. Can't see it.
 No wonder,  I'm not  in the kitchen yet. Wake up. Give the head a shake.

 Back to reality, get dressed. Get the socks out and pull the blue jeans and T-shirt on.  Shh...don't wake up momma.
 Ebony the Short  and pull-toy are out the door like a shot- and the  more sensible, sleepy Tilly the Tall is close behind. They begin a pulling match.
 The clock in the kitchen sensibly confirms reality. It's now 7:05 am.    


 The last bit of peanut butter in the jar will go just fine with strawberry jam on hot toast.  No, the toast is not smoking or black.  Being awake enough to paying attention to smoke signals and reality is starting to pay off already. One of the benefits of good reality management.
 The first cup of coffee is painfully slow coming. It begins, gurgling lazily. The first drop draining through the gadget is a promise of a better reality.  That first steaming cup will be good too, no kidding. The reality of a coffee habit says so. 
Three cups later reality has set in, the caffeine is working .  I am awake. Check the matched eyelid latches.  Yes, the eyelids stay open all by themselves. Stifle the yawn that wants to negate such fine and encouraging progress.  You really can see better with both eyes open .

 Reality says it's time to walk the dogs.  Tilly the Tall and Ebony the Short check out the reality of the  strange, softening April snow. The sun is almost warm, shining brightly.  There's a fresh spring melt in the cool air.   The pups eagerly snuffle the tracks of rabbits already turning brown. They feel obligated to check out every partridge track on the quad trail too. 
 I call the explorers back quickly if they begin to wag their tails  out of sight.
They wander back slowly onto the trail and wait patiently. They sheepishly look at me like I should have stayed in bed.
Not me. I'm too busy breathing deeply and enjoying reality.



Is that incoming I hear?

16 comments:

  1. Oh how I miss my dog sometimes, but not at 7 in the morning...or 2 in the morning or 4 in the morning...she was an old one and ready to move on...nice story, Raymond.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi M.J., they sure can be persistent, can't they? And right on TIME every morning.I miss a whole bunch of them from the past..every one of them was different too. Thanks for commenting on the pups, MJ. They're like kids, bad sometimes, but we wouldn't have them any other way, and that's the reality of it. ":) !R

      Delete
  2. I have a cat who swallowed an alarm clock. He sits behind the bedroom door at 7 a.m. and meows until someone wakes up to feed him. Fortunately, he doesn't have to be walked, and I can delegate the task of feeding to other family members (my husband wakes up the roosters). If he forgets to feed the cat, all hell breaks loose, after all there is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Katley, that's too funny! Pets soon become creatures of habit, I'm guessing whether our personal schedules like it or not. I did not realize cats could be so persistent until we had one. Oh..boy. Dedicated to the minute, but not like these dogs, they're dedicated to the nano-second. ":) Thanks for visiting! ~R

      Delete
  3. I'm always three cups of coffee away from reality when I wake up.

    Nice "R" post,
    Lucy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lucy, welcome to Incoming Bytes! Yes, three cups or more, I could not agree more! Thank you for stopping by! ":) ~R

      Delete
  4. Good one RK...Reality here has been bizzaro lately with the shift jerking things around. Some mornings reality enters at 4:30, cats included. I just try to 'glow with the flow' and I make my tea or coffee and pretend it is normal to be up at this hour preparing breakfast. The cats don't care as long as I open the can and put something in their bowl.I'm waiting for the morning I'm really sleepy and the cats get the toast and I get the tuna. VK

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Vk, I have to laugh, glow with the flow... everything is being jerked around, but many of the basics remain constant, like the habits of pets. Those cats exist to get toast AND the tuna from you. Better check the eyelid latches...":)

      Delete
  5. Nice wake-up routine...not much different than my cats.I just am wise enough to close the door so they don't do this all night.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Interesting that cats do the same thing. If I close the door, they just sit there and scratch it to pieces until it's open. *sigh They're people too, apparently, we just haven't realized it..":) !R

      Delete
  6. The first part of your post made me want to creep back into the warmth of my own bed LOL. I hope you have a great day Raymond! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's too funny, Christyb ! Most of those mornings I want to do the same thing, but the pups do not allow such luxuries! You made me smile here! Have a wonderful day, Christyb ~R

      Delete
  7. I am so glad my dog is lazy. She will sleep until ten if you let her. I still insist she go out by eight, but she will yawn until the second pot of coffee.
    Red.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Red, you are SO lucky! I have no such luxury! Tilly the Tall is fine, something like yours, she knows how to relax and sleep--but the other one is wired to a clock and timer. ":) ~R

      Delete
  8. A lovely account of an early morning rise from that sleepy haze..Mine was 5-45am this morning.. I got home at 5-30pm.. and my eyes were nearly as glazed over as yours at the end of my work-shift.;-)
    I often wonder about Reality and which world I would prefer. Dream state or waking.. my Dreams seem so much more ‘Real’ these days.. :) And don’t you just love our Animal Kingdom.. Who needs alarm clocks anyway? .. My Cat used to pounce and paw purr and then when all else failed she would try smoothing me as she sat on my head.. LOL.. Enjoyed this entry Raymond~ Sue

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Sue, Sometimes I think the dreams are the reality, some of them are working dreams where I wake up far more tired than would be normal. Good thing I have the pups to wake me up. hahahha! I do love our animals, they are personified characters, no doubt about it. Ebony the Short will even jump up on the bed and stand on my chest stiff-legged if I don't get up soon enough! I'm glad you enjoyed this! Good thing you have a cat that smooths the brow too, -as she sits on your head, -otherwise it would be a wasted effort...":))

    ReplyDelete

Comments are always appreciated ! No SPAM allowed.