I should have been a milkman!

“If you must look back, do so forgivingly. If you must look forward, do so prayerfully. However, the wisest thing you can do is be present in the present...Gratefully.”

~ Maya Angelou

Once again the roads were empty this morning as I started my day.

With the other driver on vacation this week, I have been leaving my house earlier than I normally do. That combined with this being a holiday week makes for a whole lot less vehicles on the road.

I love being out there when no one else is.

It reminds me of when I was younger and first starting out in the job market.

I would leave my house before 6 each morning.

I was always the first car in the deli's parking lot at the bottom of the hill leaving my house.

The owner and I would basically open the place together. He would go in through the back door and I would carry in his newspapers through the front when he opened for business. Thankfully his coffee machines were on a timer and he would pour me his first cup of the day, hand me a freshly buttered roll and I would be on my 45 minute drive into work. By 6:45 I was opening the gates, then the back door,turning off the alarms, turning on the lights and getting the warehouse ready for the crew to start working at 7:30.

Like I said, I love getting a jump on the day before any one else .

My dream job at one point was to own a catering truck,you know, a roach coach.

Out by 4 in the morning, stocking up on fresh pastries and such for the morning's run and heading off to which ever parking lot was my first stop,

doling out coffee and donuts and other unhealthy goodies to my daily customers who were struggling to get their days started.

Running from stop to stop, from breakfast to morning break to lunch and then afternoon break before heading home for the day.

Life doesn't get much better than that!

For a few years, I used to do the Englishtown Flea Market on Saturdays. again, it was up by 4,out the door by 4:30, a drive down to the market (coffee cup in hand) a quick bathroom stop and a fresh cup of coffee and then finally arriving at the field where I would scope out my spot for the day.

By 6 I would start laying out my wares and by 7 the early shoppers would be descending on us.

Five or six furious hours later, I would be packing up and heading home, hopefully with a pocket full of cash.

I loved every minute of it!

Up before dawn.

Awake before the rooster's crow.

Being at full speed before others even headed for the starting line.

Yep...I should have been a milkman!