Morning

The first noise I hear is the 3 dogs play fighting outside my window. The second is my brother doing what I can only describe as his immitation of a whale mocking a dog. The third is the gas truck, playing and replaying the same melody to notify habitants of Pozos that gas is available. Though the order of these three noises alternates from day to day, I can mostly count on them all disturbing my early morning sleep and forcing me out of bed. 

First stop in the morning is always the kitchen, where I am usually dwarfed by the fact that my mom has been up for hours baking, doing dishes, or researching her next project. As I make breakfast I can rest assured that Bronte and Tyler are snuggled up in their room watching cartoons and will soon be scolded for doing so. Keikai is sound asleep and Nana is doing laundry. 

I eat my breakfast on the sun-soaked patio and listen to the chatter of birds and murmurs of the workers...