Greetings from the study on a cloudy, cool and soon-to-be showery Sunday, followed by an equally unsettled Monday. As I said to someone yesterday, three day weekends no longer have any meaning for me, but I feel for those whose holidays may have been spoiled by the lousy weather in this part of the country.

Aminus3 Photography has a “morning” photo prompt this week, and as I sit here in the recliner with a keyboard, iPad, lap desk, a hot cup of fresh pour-over by my side, I’m reflecting back on my mornings over the years. During my working life, there was the commute, mostly by train, sometimes by car, and for a time, by commuter van that was operated by a woman who gave us all more stress than it was worth. But the mornings have typically been when my brain is most engaged. I was often the first person to arrive in my department at the law firm. I’d turn on some music and work on something mentally challenging. Sometimes I’d already be working on the train ride into Boston. When I was traveling for work, there were early morning rides to Logan Airport in the dark to catch the early morning US Air Shuttle to our NY office, and sometimes torturous rides from LaGuardia into midtown.

Many years ago when our son was born, and before I started my career in Boston, I was often the one giving him his first bottle of the day, and it would be just he and I in a brown La-Z-Boy recliner in our small apartment. Moments of bonding. On Sunday mornings after the feeding he’d fall back to sleep against me as I read the sports section of the Boston Globe while my wife slept in. It was special.

Now fully retired for ten years, I still get up early, though not like it was during my working life. Today I was up by 6:30. I made my first cup of pour-over coffee (dark roast today), and settled in to write. Other days I’m up early to go take photos somewhere, and to be alone in nature where all I hear are the birds waking up and my footsteps on the trail.

I often think early morning is my favorite time of the day. So on that note, here are some morning photos from over the years. And before I leave, thanks for being here. Thanks to those of you who took a small part of your day to watch my appearance on Jason Odell’s “Let’s Click” livestream yesterday. He’s posted the recording on his page if you’ve not seen it yet and want to give it a look. It was a fun hour of conversation about photography.

Have a good day everyone.

From left to right: Dawn over Haleakala on Maui. Dawn on a bitter cold morning in late December, looking out over Plymouth Harbor. An early morning exploration of a country lane in a tiny hamlet in the UK called Diddlebury. I had to be very careful to watch for cars on this narrow lane with no shoulder. Early morning in Newquay on our first trip over to Cornwall. I headed out with my camera before sunrise and was delighted to catch this scene. London, in the Chelsea section of the city, with buildings catching the first light of the day. Lastly, early morning in Calgary in 2006. I left the hotel before sunrise to explore the area with my new camera, before we headed on our journey to the Canadian Rockies.

Yes, mornings are special.