GETTING UP TOO EARLY...

   BIG DOG HAS WAKENED ME quite early on this Saturday of Memorial Weekend; he is desperate; he HAS to go outside!.
   At 4 a.m., in summer-style warmth of pre-dawn darkness, we are greeted by a clear sky filled with stars, and we are walking to the music of a choir of cicada. The moon is sliding slowly down behind tall trees along the west horizon of our valley.
   The air is soft; there is no breeze at all; and my flashlight beam picks up the slightest hint of dew on fresh-mown grass. We don't have to be in daylight to feel and sense and smell the beauty of this nascent day.
   When my dog has done his duty, we enjoy the here and now; lingering just a bit as we walk slowly back toward the house..
   Getting up too early isn't always necessarily a bad thing, is it, Mick?