SUNRISE / SUNSET

SUNRISE / SUNSET

Early to bed – early to rise

Sarah always wanted to see the sunrise. Yet, despite her best efforts, she never awoke early enough. She knew the reason but lacked the enthusiasm to fix the problem.

“Just too busy!” she’d always complain “Not enough hours in the day to get everything done.”

Sarah had gotten herself in a rut. She loved to keep busy. She loathed sitting still for too long. “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” She heard her mother’s words over and over again. Being raised in an atmosphere where ambition and imagination ruled, she felt that idleness was more like laziness and less like resting. She often thought, “forget the shop til you drop garbage! You worked til you dropped!” And she usually did.

Sarah often joked that if her home desk was ever cleaned, it was a sign that she either left home or died! Her sister often remarked that Sarah was a slob. “Just look at your little office! How on earth do you ever find anything?”

Sarah always replied, “I know there are many stacks of papers, but I knew what’s in each stack. The stacks are sorted into “what needs to be done now,” “what can wait until tomorrow,” and “what’s the least important.”

Her sister Sherilyn would shrug her shoulders and leave the room. Sherry, as Sarah called her, kept her own desk in her bedroom. A small file cabinet fit under the right side of the desk. On its top was a small calendar and a cup for two pens and one mechanical pencil. Sarah often asked, “Where do you keep your currently-working-on papers? And how do even manage your hobbies?”

Sherry laughed. “First of all, I don’t have nearly as many projects as you have. I’d be pulling my hair out by the roots. I need my personal and private time. I like to sit in the tub for about an hour just to relax. You never sit in the tub.”

“If I sat in the tub for more than five minutes, I’d feel as though I’m wasting time. I really need to be busy.”

“Well, enjoy your madness. I’m going to relax in the hot tub for a bit.”

That was the difference between the sisters. Sherry loved to relax, and Sarah didn’t know how.

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As usual, Sherry noticed Sarah setting her alarm for the next morning. “So, how early are you getting up this time and why?”

Sarah replied, “I’m setting the time for 4:30am. I want to get up, grab my camera, make a go-cup of coffee and head down to the pier. I want to try and capture the sunrise. Lately, I’ve missed it, for one reason or another. Tomorrow, I am determined!”

In her anticipation, Sarah awakened long before her alarm buzzed. Glancing at the clock, she noted the time to be 3:00am, not the 4:30 she planned. Stretching, she then rubbed her hands on her face and decided to get out of bed. “May as well get an early start. I’ll make my coffee and toast a bagel. Then, I’ll head to the pier.”

Since she had the extra time before the sun was scheduled to rise around 5:00am, she made her coffee, toasted, buttered, and packed her bagel. She checked the battery in her camera and double checked the amount of memory left on her media chip. In the garage, she decided on which folding chair she’d put in the trunk of her car.

Looking around, she noted all she planned to take with her was packed in the trunk: chair, camera bag, lunch tote.

Oops! She’d almost forgotten her morning coffee and afternoon beverage. Although she didn’t plan to stay out all day, she also didn’t want to risk dehydration. Not sure how cool the weather might be down by the pier, she tossed in a light jacket and hat. She felt she was ready!

As Sarah opened the car door, the door leading from the garage to the kitchen opened and out walked Sherry.

“Sherry, what are you doing up so early? It isn’t even five o’clock. Go back to bed!”

Sherry smiled. “Not on your life, little sister! You made me realize how important every second of every day can be. I’m going with you to watch the sunrise. I haven’t seen the sunrise since we were kids and used to get up early with our parents to make the drive out to the lake for our odd Sunday picnics. Is there room in your trunk for another chair?”

Sarah smiled and assured her sister there was more than enough room. Sherry lifted a lunch tote. “I also brought my bagel and coffee. Oh, and we can always stop by the Crab Shack for lunch if we’d like to make this a really enjoyable day.”

Sarah and Sherry hugged tightly, then folded themselves into Sarah’s SUV.

As they left the garage, Sarah pressed the button to bring down the large mechanical door.

Sherry turned to her sister and said, “I can’t remember the last time I got up in the dark. Usually, that’s when I’m going to bed. I really am, so looking forward to seeing the sunrise instead of the sunset. It’s going to be a wonderful day.”

Sarah drove down the street and headed for the pier, not once losing the happiness she felt at having her sister by her side.