“These days I’m up about the time I used to go to bed

Living large was once the deal, now I watch the stars instead

They’re timeless and predictable, unlike most things that I do

But I’d tell the wind and my old friend, I’m headed home to you.”

These are the lyrics of Verse Three of a Jimmy Buffett song titled Coast of Carolina. It is Track 4 from his album, License to Chill, which was released in 2004 and produced by Mac McAnally and Robert Utley. The song was written for his wife Jane, as a follow up to his hit song Come Monday, also written to Jane, as a hugely popular part of some of his music, he wrote songs connected to, and about, family members, or included their names as characters in some of his songs. I feel he also has written lyrics in some of his songs that everyone who listens to his music can say he wrote for them personally, me for one, and not just in one of his songs but multiple tunes and stories set to music. The above verse from Coast of Carolina is one of them.

I feel I’ve gone through several metamorphoses in my sleeping routine these past few years. When I was in my late teens and early to mid-twenties, I stayed way out too late, and other than the times I had to set my alarm to get up early for school or work, I could sleep until the next afternoon to get the suggested/recommended six to eight hours of sleep. After getting married in my later twenties, and having a gotten a classroom teaching job, I started going to bed a little earlier and getting up a little earlier as well, mainly because we went from one, to four person(s) using one bathroom, in each of the two apartments we rented early in our marriage, and later in the house we ended up buying 41 years ago. I was still on an alarm clock back then, so I set it each night, and it did me well the following mornings, assuring me of my needed wake up calls to start my days.

As Chasy and Chrissy got older and needed more time in the bathroom getting ready for their school days, I started getting up much earlier than the 5:00 a.m.-ish wake up calls, I was so accustomed to receiving. I then set my alarm wake-up calls for around 3:00 a.m., so I could get into the bathroom and get myself ready for my day. That turned out to be a win-win for me.

Getting up at 3:00 a.m., and after getting ready, I had a lot of time before I had to leave for school. (Back then, we didn’t have swipe keys to get into the school early, so I had to wait until the custodians arrived around 5:45 a.m. to open the school.) In the extra time which I found myself having in those days, I made and poured a cup coffee and grabbed some breakfast, turned on the early morning news, and thought through my day before leaving the house. When I got to school (6:00-ish), I was still first, after the custodian, so I was able to get to my room, make some coffee, use the copy machine if needed, write my homeroom activity on the board, lay out what I needed for the day, put corrected papers in the students’ individual file trays, and by that time the coffee was done, and I could pour a cup and read the morning paper before the homeroom bell rang and the kids filed in. After we got laptops, I could add reading my school e mail and answer any e mails that needed answering. When we finally got swipe keys, I would leave the house anywhere between 4:45 and 5 a.m., so I could do even more before my school days began. Because I also did coaching for the district, I used the extra time to plan future lessons, run off materials, keep my grades up to date, correct papers that needed to be corrected beyond my prep periods and the hours I was at practice/games during my seasons. I, then, became a hardcore morning person, but I still relied on an alarm clock to start my day.

After retirement, I kept my early wake up going as I found it the best part of the day to do some things, and on days I subbed (and still do), I’d get to each school and wait in the parking lot until someone like me (early bird) would arrive and I’d follow them in, as I liked getting there early to go over plans and materials before homeroom and my first period class showed up.

Fast forward to about 3 plus years ago, when I started waking up around 3:00 am without an alarm clock, even if I didn’t have to sub that day. I spent the extra time having coffee, waiting for the paper, and watching recorded late-night programs not watched because of falling asleep in my chair the night before.

As time went on, my wake-up time got earlier, and I’m at a point where, if we aren’t out the night before, I’m asleep before Wheel or Jeopardy ends and I wake up (without alarm) anywhere between midnight and 1:00 am, in other words, “These days I’m up about the time I used to go to bed.” I may try going back to sleep (often unsuccessfully, so to occupy time, I watch TV recorded sporting events, or Blue Bloods Marathons, Leave it to Beaver, My Three Sons, and Hazel reruns.)

In September ’23, Sally and I joined Planet Fitness, and scheduled ourselves to go Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. We started working out Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 6 a.m. We then worked back to working out about 1:00 a.m.-ish each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We even went at midnight for a while. We’ve had some minor health issues, and gotten a little lazier, and have tapered off from our visits to the Planet, but my body is still in those extra early hours of waking up.

With all these changes in my sleeping habits, and waking up times, I’m a little perplexed (much like the chicken/egg question). I’m not sure if I’m considered to be waking up late at night or early in the morning. It sometimes makes me think about it while sitting up all those late nights (or are they early mornings?) I guess that’s something I think I’ll continue to ponder, more and more, in all the awake-time hours I have, be they either late or early.