A long long time ago
I can still remember how
That music used to make me smile
That’s how I wake up every day – listening to the first few verses of Don McLean’s American Pie.
I have three alarms set within 15 mins. The first one is set to American Pie, the second one is that horrible default alarm tone, and the third one is Sigrid’s Everybody knows from Justice League OST. I never get to the third one.
The moment the first alarm goes off, Chewie starts stirring. He’s been awake for an hour already, snuggling up against me, waiting for me to wake up. He knows that the alarm is a signal that I’m ready to be dragged out of the bed. More importantly, he knows that when I get up, he gets his breakfast. Breakfast = food, Chewie = labrador, sleep = fin.
Even if I can calm Chewie with a hug and a rub, there’s still Raghs to deal with. She gets up an hour after me, and treasures this morning sleep. If the music goes on for longer than a min, she kicks me out of bed to go switch it off. Chewie is only glad to help her out.
I keep my phone on a small stool just outside the bedroom door – about 10 steps from my side of the bed. It’s also right outside the toilet door. Which means that switching off the alarm, is immediately followed by the morning pee. And by the time that’s done, I’m largely awake, and Chewie is ready for me, waiting by his food bin.
This whole setup means that I wake up pretty much on time nearly every day – sometimes even without the alarm. What’s better – I begin the morning with a good tune on my mind – American Pie.
One small drawback is that I never get to hear the rest of the song. It’s amongst the rare few songs from my undergrad days that I still like – and all I get to hear of it every day is just that little tease.
I corrected that today, by listening to it (on R’s QC35s) while feeding Chewie, and making my morning coffee. It was a happy start to the day :)
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they’d be happy for a while