We are early risers in my house. It has a lot to do with the Call of the Bark times 10, 24/7. My pups and campers like to get the day going at around 6 a.m.—except for Rascal, who sleeps under the covers with her head firmly planted on my pillow until she hears breakfast being served. She has not talked me into breakfast in bed. Yet.

When Cole was younger, he was always up and at it by 6:30 a.m., no matter how late he went to bed. And Joe…well, Joe would have liked to sleep in, but he bought a coffee pot with a timer and resigned himself to the fact that he was doomed to a life of early rising.

Cole was up late last night writing a paper, and since I’m lousy at math he figures I can make it up to him by helping him organize and write papers. He sells it to me as “bonding time with your teen.” In any case, we bonded and then headed to bed around midnight.

We both set our alarms. Mine was set for 5:30 a.m., as I like a few minutes to lie in bed review my day, set my daily intentions, and send beautiful thoughts out into the universe. Ok. I also like a few minutes to catch up with my El Morno buddies on Facebook.

Cole sets his alarm for 6:10 a.m. because he likes to leave for school by 6:30, stop and buy a Starbucks and arrive at school early enough to visit with other early birds. The kid has not been late one day since he started driving himself last March. I would applaud his punctuality, but it makes me look really bad since we had a lot of tardies when I drove. (That’d be due to Facebook and looking for my keys, if you must know.)

The point to this post—and it does have one—is that this morning our alarms, including the barking ones, did not go off. I believe we set our phone alarms before bed but they were turned off in the morning. The dogs were quiet as mice ( MICE?! Let’s forget I used that word). I have no idea why the alarms were off or the dogs were quiet. I could theorize but for now lets just call it a mystery. Moving on. My eyes opened and were immediately assaulted by light flowing into my bedroom window, and I realized it was not 5:30 a.m. Cautiously, I reached for my phone to check the time, saw the reality and leaped out of bed, frantic about my pups. I was certain someone had stolen them during the night. I found them curled up in crates, happy as clams. I felt like I had entered the Twilight Zone and sniffed for the scent of cigarette smoke. “Rod, are you here?” I asked, as I cautiously looked around my living room.

Cole was as confused as I was when I woke him up, which I finally remembered to do. (Yes, I checked on the pups and campers first.) He leaped out of bed and insisted it must be Sunday, and then he decided I had turned his alarm off while he was sleeping. Now do you understand why I check on my pups first?

My day continued to be remarkably unproductive. I never finished El Morno, which is why it is MIA; if you live on the West Coast, though, perhaps you still have time to indulge in moldy cheese (it’s Moldy Cheese Day). It was also Curious Events Day. As I have already shared my curious event of the day, do you have one you would like to share?

Oh, and in case you are worrying about Cole…I promised to never sneak into his room and turn his alarm clock off again, and I bought him these cool Superman socks so he will be able to leap tall buildings and make it to school faster than a speeding bullet (figuratively speaking, of course; he’s still required to stay within the posted speed limit and refrain from driving over little old ladies).

The socks have capes hanging off the back of them….I didn’t want you to miss that detail.

Hope you had a terrific Tuesday!