At the store before sunrise

/ April 15, 2016

It was still pitch dark when I pulled my Chevy Cruze out of the driveway of the Little Bitty in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood.

Although sunrise was still officially some 20 minutes hence when I stopped in the parking lot of the store 15 miles northwest, light already peaked over the horizon when I stepped out of the car.

Hello, new day.

Hello, new day.

In fact, the dawning of another chance to do good and well looked so beautiful at 5:51 a.m. that I pulled my iPhone 6 out of my pocket to snap the photo above.

Besides, I still had minutes to spare before my shift started, you know? Then it was inside to my locker, on with the work top, out with the bucket of water, forward with the pick-and-purge of the three paint-coloring machines, off to the safety walk of the aisles that comprise paint and home decor … The morning routine left to the opener gets the blood flowing right from the start.

That splash of color in the sliver of the sky was a good mood-starter.

When’s the last time you greeted the sunrise, and how did it make you feel? What’s your routine to start your job? Would you rather open at 6 a.m., or work to close at 10 p.m., and why?

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35 thoughts on “At the store before sunrise”

  1. Golly gee, bro Mark. I’ve always been up before the rooster crows and down long after the cows come home, so one has not much to do with the other for me. When I worked though I preferred second shift, since being up didn’t always mean being awake, and I am officially a night person, so I wouldn’t be sleeping anyway — might as well be working as pretending to sleep. Some things just never change I guess. Have a good one. My self allotted computer time is now up, so see ya later.

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  2. Ugh. At least half the year I’m up before the sun. Yesterday, The Mister woke me more than 30 minutes before my alarm, so he could hold me, or as I would put it, to try to catch me on fire, lol! Anyway, it was sweet and it was a lovely sunrise, but I coulda missed it, ya know? 😉

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  4. I start my job by changing my shoes, getting my laptop from either my locker or my bag, grabbing a piece of fruit from the kitchen and a mug of water to go with my morning coffee. Then I read my emails. Can’t comment on my work, sometimes I can start work straight away, other times I don’t have any and that is really frustrating. So then I do online codeschool.
    Nice photo btw!

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  5. For medical reasons I don’t sleep much more than 1 1/2 hours at a time, so as a disability retiree I am up and down all day. I usually see the sun rise in the morning but my window faces west so unless it is summer and I have the door ajar, I don’t see much. In summer I will go out on my little deck with my coffee and enjoy the sunrise and the cool morning air. When I worked I was a night owl naturally (I’d be that even if I wasn’t working). As I got older I found that I was up earlier and enjoyed the sunrise. For a number of years i worked over night and watched the sunrise on my way home. When older,I did like getting a head start on the job while others sat in traffic trying to get to work – and then going home mid-afternoon, done for the day.

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  6. We are up at 4 am every day of the year. I greet the sunrise by going out into the front garden and sweeping the walks and the street / driveway in front of our house. It gives me a chance to see the sun come up out there, as we face north and east on that side. Lately we have had cloud-dotted skies, so it is especially pretty. I will have already had my coffee by that point and then start my work day in my home office by 6:30 so it can be over by 2:30 at the latest. 🙂

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  8. I used to get up at 5:30AM when I was working in the real world (walk dog, get ready for work, get kids off to school, start my commute). The dog was just fine with that routine, and she sees no reason to change it now that all my days are Saturdays. And—given that I live in Scotland—sunrise comes late enough most of the year that I regularly (if completely unwillingly) see most of them.

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  9. I love seeing the sun come up! My morning routine Mark? I pour myself a coffee, log in at my desk and check in on my org’s social media accounts, read, retweet, create posts and then get on with whatever else is on my plate for the day. ❤
    Diana xo

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  12. beautiful shots, and well-written, mark. i’m all about the early morning, i fade out as the day continues. most days, i am greeted by a sunrise as i make my way to school. i wake up at 5, leave at 615, and am there by 7.

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