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			There’s something so satisfying about getting out of 
			bed when the world is still dark and quiet and resting. Making the 
			coffee gives us time to scratch and think. Well, scratch, anyway. 
			Most of that thinking will start after about the third cup of 
			coffee.
 But it’s a quiet time. A private time. When the world is dark, and 
			there isn’t yet a hint of pink over the eastern mountains, it’s very 
			good. We can relax. No one is expecting anything from us right now. 
			Our guilt can take some time off, and we can listen to music or work 
			a crossword puzzle or turn on the TV and watch the weather guy 
			discuss millibars and troughs.
 
 Soon enough, we’ll have to be out there living for others: our 
			bosses, our customers, our animals, our fields. But right now no one 
			needs us except the dog, and she does well on kibbles and an ear 
			rumple.
 
 We can look out the window at the eastern glow and wonder what will 
			happen in the hours until our world turns dark again. People will be 
			born and people will die. People will win honors and people will go 
			to jail. People will create things today that live past them and 
			people will disappear forever. Some people will write about these 
			things and other people will read about these things.
 
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			 And then the world will go dark 
			on us again and we’ll think about what happened in our tiny portion 
			of this huge moving amalgam and hopefully we’ll sleep easily 
			tonight. Then, when we arise tomorrow and head for the coffee pot, 
			we can think about what happened today, and how it has made us 
			slightly different for taking on the next tomorrow.
 Come to us, Daylight. Bring us the new day. But do it gently, 
			please, and slowly enough for one more cup.
 
 [Text from file received from 
			Slim Randles]
 
 Brought to you by the 
			novella Whimsy Castle. Love comes in all forms. At bookstores now.
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