It’s early still, but when I woke it seemed light enough to be morning. Now that I’m upright and at my desk, I see that darkness prevails. The snow pack must be fooling me, must be brightening the landscape, creating a false dawn.

I think of how hard insomniacs look for some semblance of morning, how they analyze blinds and shades for shifts in hue. They have waited hours for just a glimmer of the day to come.

Luckily, that was not my case, at least not last night. It’s more that the light woke me, revved me, jump-started my day. It may have been a false dawn I glimpsed, but the real one will be here soon.