Early In The Morning

Early In The Morning
6/23/10

So, this morning, like many mornings for me now, I woke up just before 5:00 A.M. It was still dark out and as I got up I asked myself a question……..Greg, what are you doing up? After all, it’s 5:00 A.M., there is no school today and this is summer vacation. Then, I had a very specific thought……..How many days in our lives do we really get to spend being awake, alert and observant of all that is going on around us at the start of our days? The answer…..not many!

So, I rose and walked to my bay window in my dining room and observed what was going on. I could barely see the light peaking through what looked like clouds. Moments later, I heard a loud sound of rain pounding on my patio. I thought, could it be raining this early? I walked out and sure enough, it was flooding but only for a few minutes. It was cool and it almost seemed like the perfect irrigation system that quickly watered creation and subsided within minutes. As the rain ended and the light became more apparent, I walked out to observe. As I walked down my driveway and out to the street, I only saw one paper and wondered where the other was. Suddenly, an old car comes speeding by, the horn blew, the driver waved and the Baton Rouge Morning Advocate landed by my foot. I waved back, reached down, grabbed the paper and thought……..Nice Arm Dude!

If you are like me, during the work days of the year, I hardly take notice of what is happening around me early in the mornings because I am usually on a mission to reach my destination. Once I leave for work, my mind is off to the races with the challenges of the day. It was a crazy thought this morning, but I really asked myself, how many sunrises have I actually witnessed taking in all that is around me void of the everyday distractions? The answer for me is very few. This morning, I stopped and asked myself, “How many are we guaranteed to have”?

Recently, my very talented producer/engineer, Casey Campbell, turned me on to a couple of really talented singer/songwriters from the Nashville area that write and produce music that is similar to mine. One of these artists that I have become a big fan of is Andrew Osenga. On my laptop, where I do a lot of work and writing, I have several of Andrew’s songs in my Itunes library and I seem to play one of his songs titled Early In The Morning more than any other. In this song, Andrew’s keen observations of this time of day come to life as he describes the minute details of the sun rising and all that we have to be thankful for. It is stirring, inspirational, brilliantly designed and well produced. My favorite line from the tune comes at the end where Andrew refers to time and says….”Let us not take this for granted”. Andrew’s simple, yet brilliant melodic interpretation of this quiet, undisturbed time of day is perfect. As a songwriter, my goal is to always take the listener to the place where the song inspired me and to deliver the message with an accurate musical interpretation. Andrew perfects this in Early In The Morning. If you have not had the pleasure of hearing Andrew’s music, then you should treat yourself and check it out.

Who knows what tomorrow brings, but if starts in anyway like today did, maybe I will be fortunate enough to rise Early In The Morning and see it all again……

You can check out Andrew’s music at www.andrewosenga.com

Have a great day!