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I don’t think so. I heard no birdsong when I opened our back door at 4:05 a.m.

Truck traffic on Water Street is my alarm clock.

I think only Garrison Keillor and I are stirring. He wrote about getting up at 4 a.m. here. I haven’t read his story yet. It would be like batting after Willie Mays. Writing is hard enough without having a schoolmaster with a sharp ruler looking over my shoulder.

I’ve got a friend who interviewed Keillor during Prairie Home Companion days. My friend tells me Garrison would re-write sketches thirty times. I’ll read his story later.

I’ve been getting up early for most of my 73 years. That’s just how my body works. When I was a kid, my parents let my brothers and I stay up late on Saturday nights to watch Creature Features, horror movies with monsters. As far as I knew, Frankenstein, Dracula, and Wolfman wreaked havoc forever. I was fast asleep when they met their dastardly end.

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I’ll bet you are interested in my 4 a.m. routine. This photo, taken 90 minutes ago, sets the stage.

I’ve already had three sips of coffee. Otherwise, none of this is possible. So, making coffee is the first thing. Last week, Rebecca and I visited her daughter and family in Boston. I wrote about it here. I’m also up early when traveling and always scout out the kitchen layout. Only cats Wilber and Orville joined me for coffee at the dining room table.

The white mug is mine. The black one with the brown interior is Rebecca’s. She will come through that door to our bedroom at 7 o’clock. About 6:30, I will put another pot of coffee on.

Notice the laptop and phone on top of the kitchen counter. Those are Rebecca’s. They are now recharged and ready for her when she wakes up.

Now, I’m settled into the brown chair you see straight ahead. My feet are on the footrest, and my 2018 MacBook Air rests on a lap desk. It is 6:30. Time to make Rebecca coffee.

I’m sure Garrison is sitting ramrod straight at a desk in his home office.

On his 8th revision.

What does he do when he comes to the end of a story but thinks he should write more?

Does he change perspective?

I’ll bet he does.

My partner Rebecca sits in this chair. We’ve been together for 13 years. We were looking for red flags as we got to know each other. That’s what you do when dating later in life.

Rebecca worried about my early morning rising. What did I do? Was I ruminating? I assured her it was just my body clock. Throughout my 40-year academic life, I developed the habit of doing all my coursework in the early morning hours.

So here I sit, just outside our bedroom. Rebecca long ago learned to enjoy having the whole bed to herself — the coffee ready, with her devices charged.

I revise as I write. I’ll assign myself the equivalent of three rewrites.

This story is ready to submit.

Now I’ll see what Garrison has to say about 4 a.m. He probably knocked it out of the park, just like Willie.

Sigh.

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