Tinnngggg......

Terry and I are slow starters--our habit has been to awaken to Morning Edition on the clock-radio and pig it back to bed with organic coffee set up the night before. Two cups later, we're usually capable of morning ablutions and such. But then there's that whole yelling at the radio thing--and violent gesticulations that leave coffee stains on the comforter. Hard on the serene demean. So we have given up our morning mad for Lent, saving news for later in the day, when it doesn't blindside our dreams. And we dusted off our "Zen" alarm clock, a birch triangle with Hokusai's Wave on the dial, and a delicate temple gong sound that leaves me listening for a geisha's scratch at the screen with a wakeup pot of jasmine-scented tea. And for good measure, we also threw into the Lenten offering our favorite seasonal affect disorder treatment, megadoses of chocolate--or "Vitamin C" as we call it. No doubt it will be good for our characters. But come Easter Sunday, I doubt you will find us at sunrise service. We'll be snug in the flannel, with Liane Hansen turned up loud enough to carry over the slurping of hot cocoa and our running objections to the day's headlines.