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Morning

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Morning was written during the late summer of the pandemic in 2020. I'd recently purchased a ukulele as I was feeling a bit down (who wasn't?) and thought it might cheer me up. (If I were a stand-up comedian, I'd open this story with, "You know, a guy needs something small to play with once in a while.") The ukulele was sort of my own pandemic pet, only this one didn't bark and all I needed to do was strum it. As I began to learn chords and fumble my way on the instrument I found myself writing songs on it. I honestly didn't expect that to happen. I normally write at the piano, so this was sort of a new experience. As many may recount, the pandemic produced a fair amount anxiety in friends, family, co-workers, and in the community. And though I was privileged in so many ways (able to work from home, family close by, a community that encouraged mask-wearing and social distancing, and a pool that I could finally swim in regularly) I still found myself experiencing a sense of dread like I'd seldom experienced before. The ability to be creative, to laugh and be at ease - these things seemed elusive, especially at night. But waking up after a fitful night's sleep I would find those feelings mostly gone, vanishing with slumber, at least for a while. The morning was a welcome time and with the sun shining there was hope even during a very uncertain time. So the song became a bit therapeutic for me in some ways. It's a song I wrote for me and sang to myself, over and over, night after night. Playing and singing it got me through a funk and allowed me to imagine a world where there wasn't an awful weight of despair.