7:30

I am not a morning person, but I love mornings. I love the way the light feels hazier and the air is a little softer. The way everything feels a little surreal, as if life could not possibly happen this early. Of course, I am talking about the hours of four a.m. to six a.m. Ironically, I knew these hours well when I was younger. My dad always rose before five when I was very small, and I would try to rouse myself alongside him.

As much as I love mornings, I love sleep so much more. I'm the person who can sleep until a nine a.m. alarm and then hit the snooze, stealing every minute of sleep from the day. This lifestyle has served me well since I left home for college. Well, until Ace came into my life.

Ace stirs around 6 a.m. from what I can tell. I honestly have no idea because he forces himself to stay in bed as late as he can. When I was working full-time and kept a "normal" schedule, that meant rising at 7:30 so that Ace and I could go for a walk and have breakfast before I got ready. But now that I can sleep as late as I want (a blessing and a curse), Ace still wakes up at 7:30. He isn't impatient and doesn't get frustrated. He just hops out of bed and walks around my room. Generally, I get up and open my bedroom door so that he can walk around the kitchen and the living room, perhaps stopping for a drink. Generally I doze off of for a few more minutes before I feel him standing before me. Looking me dead in the eye, he wills me to wake. I coax him back into the bed and then our real morning ritual begins. Ace flops down in the bed next to me and I put my arms around him. He rolls onto his back pressing his body into mine and then he tips his nose back, exposing his chin and neck. For as long as we like, we lay there, me rubbing his neck and belly, he stretching and slipping into pure bliss. There is no complicated message or hidden meaning in our morning ritual. Just a dog and his human, happily together.

I've never reflected much on this ritual until this morning. I realized that my favorite part of the day is now opening my eyes to see my loyal friend ready for a tummy rub. The rest of the world hasn't figured out that we're awake yet and no one is leaving the apartment building yet (thus there's no need to bark). I am so lucky to start my day with the happiest dog in the world, doing what I love most--rubbing his underside.

Some days, you just gotta be grateful.

-Sierra