Early Morning Gray

It must be almost a holiday if I am up this early. Up, showered and about to be breakfasted. Not to mention coffeed. You love verbing just as much as the next person, admit it.

I got up at five, having finally decided that my early-morning insomnia was in the right: there's nothing quite like being the first person up in the house, the coffee would brew in a mere hour, and I would have time to get showered and do some internet puttering before I had to face anyone. If you were wondering: Amazon.com is still there, so all must be right with the world.

The world, which, by the way, is wonderfully silver this morning- from the water in the sea and air to the frost on the roofs. It is just beginning to get light. Continuing on the gray theme, my Janey-cat is lounging behind me, close enough to bask in my delightful presence but not so close that she risks receiving unwanted affection. While she didn't directly cause my pre-dawn wakefulness, she certainly appreciated the hour advance on her feeding time. Now she too is taking advantage of the quiet to putter, or in her case, skulk.

Yesterday was the island's big community Thanksgiving, which is thrown at the school by the kids (and, incidentally, the staff). While we set places for about fifty people, the turn-out was closer to 30, as people were out fishing, or loading up on off-island groceries for Thanksgiving proper. Everything went as smoothly as one might hope, except during clean-up, when there were two casualties: the first-grader's salt and flour map of the island and an apple pie. The former fell, crashing into the latter before falling to the floor and breaking into an island puzzle. The pie was only half damaged and so was served as a dessert option last night when my housemate and I hosted a dinner party. The owner of the house we rent is in town for the holiday, so we gave him some of our special smashed-apple pie. There was a little bit of grit from the sand that was on the map (depicting the shore line), but as he is a geology prof, he let that pass only remarking on which beach it must have been from. He's got a refined palate for rocks. We followed up the gritty pie with a short-sheeted bed. While it is nice to have company, it does not do to have landlords feel that they own the place.

His arrival has been something of a god-send however, as it sent our languorous carpenters into a frenzy of productivity, and as a result we now have amenities like outlets in our bedrooms- or in my case, on one side of my bedroom. Even better, we have multiple toilets! The icing on the cake was that they took my demand for an outdoor outlet seriously, so now our entrance ramp (two boards stapled with asphalt shingles) is illuminated with white x-mas lights. We believe in safety first! Or at some point.

Buck! There are deer on the lawn, which means I have about an hour until the mailboat arrives. Nice rack, guy- biggest one I have seen yet. Should probably bring the compost out. Also, I would point out that I had baguette, butter and marmalade for breakfast. The baguettes came out even better this time, which might speak to an old bromide about practice. And because I am so proud, I would point out that I have recently made my first biscotti, and my first (cinnamon streusel) coffee cake.

Time to take on the day.