Small things in the morning...

In the morning I am not always at my best.

I usually say very few things in the morning.

I used to think that people were stupid for saying they needed their coffee before they came online. Now, I think differently.

However, the little things that are easily overlooked brighten me up in the early morning hours.

("Early morning" being defined by college student standards is before 8:00 a.m. )

The other day, I stopped at a stop sign before making a left across traffic. I looked to my right and saw a squirrel burying something.

Hey! Shut up! I thought it was cool. He had this vacant, yet determined look in his eyes. He was gathering all the surrounding ground cover to hide his stash. Then scampered off.

It would have been cooler if he did it cartoon-style. I had this discussion with Squatty on a bike ride once. I asked him about his previous life as a munitions safety inspector in the military. I asked him if he inspected things as if he was in a Roadrunner-Wile E. Coyote cartoon.

"You know, would you go up to a bomb with a tiny hammer and tap it on the nose. Then it would explode and then you'd be all blackened, and hold up a tiny sign that said, 'Ouch'?"

"Yes," Squatty said dryly. "That's exactly what I did. Then my skeleton would fall to the ground to the sound of a xylophone. How did you know?"

I wanted to see my squirrel friend pat down his stash with a tiny shovel then he would lean on the shovel and sigh. Then he would get a out a checklist and check off that particular location.

He would have definitely needed a hard hat.

Then yesterday as I was driving to campus, I saw a dad put his son or daughter on the school bus. The little kid had to have been in first grade.

The little dude got on the bus and dad waved to him or her.

Then turned to walk back to the house, got a two steps away and turned back towards the bus.

He forgot to hand the tiny backpack to his tiny child.

Must have been his first time putting Junior on the bus and he almost blew it.

It made me laugh.

Shut up. So what if I am easily amused?

It makes mornings a little more tolerable.