LUCY BURDETTE: I was standing in our stairwell after Lottie’s and my morning walk, and I noticed that I always walk up four steps before dropping my heels to stretch my Achilles and calves. Every day. Not the third step not the fifth step. Such a creature of habit, almost to the point of superstitious.
Before we go out, I always feed T-bone as he’s the one who wakes us up. I always take my naturopathic potions because they must be taken on an empty stomach. I always reward myself for getting up and out, with a café con leche from the Cuban Coffee Queen. (The only time I’ve missed a morning is when we were visiting our kids in California.)
I asked my sister, nature writer Susan Cerulean, what she does without fail. Once her husband brings her tea, she stays in bed and writes in her journal.
Okay, you may notice something missing in my list: I don’t spring up and write a thousand words. Wouldn’t that be an amazing habit to do without fail?? What’s on your list every morning, silly or not?
RHYS BOWEN: I usually wake much earlier than John so I take the one medication that needs an empty stomach. If it’s a reasonable hour ( after seven) I turn on the hot water and warm the tea pot. Then I sit up in bed and read emails, answering the important ones. Then I check Facebook, do Wordle and Letterboxed and if John still
Isn’t awake I make tea and start to write. If it’s nice out a brief walk and hope to come back to John making breakfast
Oh, and Lucy, Clare’s convinced me to try a hypnosis app. You could plant the intent to write if you wanted to!
HALLIE EPHRON: A hypnosis app? We need a blog about that, Rhys. I’m dying to hear more.
As for me, I wake up and usually fail to do #1 on my list, which is to turn the sound back on on my cell. I check for any texts or emails that need to be addressed or are from my kids. Then I settle back in bed and read the New York Times. Ending with all their wonderful puzzles. Spelling Bee (I rarely get to genius). The mini crossword (ace it daily). Connections (usually I abandon it one quarter done). The crossword (only Monday-Wednesday; after that it’s too hard). Then I get up and check to see if the Boston Globe got delivered. I do love the comics, the bridge column, and I can do every day’s crossword puzzle except Sunday’s.
After breakfast and chai tea with honey, I attack the to-do list I generated the day before. And look at the morning’s Jungle Red Writers post and wallow in the comments. I LOVE THE COMMENTS!
Writing? Silence… I know I need to change up my priorities.
JENN McKINLAY: I don’t have much of a routine or a “have to” in the morning. The only thing I do consistently is drink a 15 oz glass of water with lemon and sea salt (hydration!) and then I make the coffee. After that, my day is anyone’s guess. My to-do list is in a constant state of flux, which suits me.
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: In non-book tour mode, I wake up first, and check my email, then check JRW just to make sure all is well. I wait for Jonathan to get up, so I scan the Times and the Post, and then do Connections, which I adore. Then I see if I can sneak in an Insta and FB post. Then I scroll other social media, just to scout for news and info. Jonathan makes better coffee than I do so he makes the coffee and I figure out breakfast, which is different depending on my current obsession. (Recently toasted pita with peanut butter.)
Then I think, okay, gotta write.
(Wordle is a reward, and comes later in the day.)
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I’m such a screen addict, I can’t look at my phone or open my laptop until after my morning routine. Let’s see… I also have an “only on empty stomach” prescription, so that happens first. Full glass of water, followed by a trip to the loo. Yes, I noticed the rest of you left that out! Then it’s LOVE TIME for the Shih Tzus. They roll around ecstatically on my bed while I give them butt skritchs and tummy rubs. I listen to the NPR news summary via my Alexa, which scratches my current events itch.
Then I head downstairs for more hot animal action, specifically breakfast for the dogs and the cat, overseeing the boys as they sniff around the dooryard for the first piddle of the day, and scooping the litter pan.
I’m sorry, y’all, I just realized a huge amount of my “hour one” is devoted to excretion. I’m cry-laughing as I write this. So glamorous.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: I wake up hours earlier than Rick, so no lights, or coffee/tea in bed for me. But I do like to lie there in the quiet, and most mornings I try to meditate for about twenty minutes before I check my phone. I skim email, the weather, the blog. Then up and dress and downstairs to get the paper, then take the dogs out. Treats for dogs (morning meds, really), empty dishwasher, make breakfast (my favorite meal of the day, I think, even if it's just toast and fruit.) Most days I barely skim the paper and will put it aside to look out the window and enjoy my tea. Then off to the computer.
I love the "done without fail" ritual of the morning--it's such a comforting and solid way to begin the day.
Reds, tell us about the things you do first thing in the morning without fail!
