An In-Between Start to My Day

Some moments are worth waking for. This morning, I savored that thin sliver of time tucked in between night and day, when even the birds still slumber.

I am, I suppose, an optimist, preferring to find good even when a 5:30 a.m. cheerleading practice looms. This morning, though, the good found us.

The air was thick and still when Allison and I walked to our car. For once, I was glad that Eric hadn't closed the garage the night before. It meant we could walk in silence, not puncturing the early morning with the groans of a garage-door opener that was long past its prime.

There is something slightly mysterious about leaving your house, pre-dawn. Even the sight of a neighbor's headlights catches you off guard, as you wonder aloud what they are doing up so early. We stare into their window as we pass each other, sharing a silent bond that briefly ties us to each other.

Allison and I crack our windows, letting the world ease in, and we are treated to a sleepy chorus of cricket chirps. The sky ponders pink as its color of the moment, slowly pushing away its nighttime blanket of black.

It is a short car ride to Lincoln High. The lights stay mostly green, unwilling to go through the efforts of other colors, but we are in no rush to hurry through them.

We pass a lone bicyclist, water jug balanced on his handlebars. He is making his way to the Work-A-While building, once home to butterscotch malts and chocolate sundaes. Even at this hour, a line forms in front there, as determined men quietly jockey for a day's wages.

We are grateful that the light at Capitol Parkway yawns red, giving us extra time with the crickets, who are rallying for the sweeping chorus, their dewy legs humming from the creek.

And then--just like that--it is changed. A cardinal's song carries daytime onto the scene, and pinks stretch back into gray. Traffic picks up, the crickets fall silent, a walker's limbs grow warm from the rhythm of his movements.

But I was there, just moments ago, a witness to that magical in-between time. And I am comforted to have known it this day.