Ronni
Once again I smile as you share.
You can see by the time that I am a lark also. Almost 5:00 AM in Nashville.
I wake up running (most of the time) but after lunch my energy goes down quickly.
I always have a list and write down everything or I may forget. I am constantly teased about being so organized. It is the only way I can function.
I am super excited this morning as I am headed for the garden of my past home to pick out some things for my new garden.
I will leave at dawn.
I truly do not like going out in the evening. I love being home with my books at that time.
I will meet someone for lunch but I am getting where I do not even like to do that but occasionally.
I may sound rather dull to some but I am truly enjoying my life and at peace more then ever.
It has been a long time coming.

Greetings, fellow Lark! I, too, need a routine. I still arise between 4 and 5 a.m. and go to bed about 9, even nine years after retirement. Is it aging or just my nature? Mostly the latter, I think.

So nice to know I'm among so many others. Love my mornings. However, I also stay up rather late enjoying that quiet, down time alone. Can't read late at nite so I bless modern technology & my cable TV. Incidentally, I've been watching American Experience (I think that's the name) on PBS. Saw FDR series (2) & finished last nite with Truman. So rewarding & interesting to see that some things in our country never change. Also amazing to be reminded that while both men were leaders in their own way, they were full of misgivings & shortcomings.

Off now to complete my early morning routine. Dee

"Larkness" turns out to be a condition that can be cured. After nearly 40 years of marriage to an owl, I find that my inner lark has pretty much gone south permanently.

I'm still the first one up almost every morning (and the first to fall asleep at night) but over the years my body clock has shifted two or three hours. My wife's hasn't changed a second.

The 3 pm factor is interesting in its own right. A few years ago I conducted a series of day-long computer training seminars. The seminars ran until 4 pm, but it was an open secret that nobody learning anything after 3 pm. Owls may start the day later and catch a second wind in the evening, but just about everybody is brain dead at 3 pm.

Many of my neighbors who are (even) older than I get up as early as 4:30 and are in bed by 8:00 p.m.
I live in Hawaii, ie in the tropics, and the sun regulates sleeping and waking periods for me. There is not much difference between winter and summer; I tend to get up at sunrise and wind down at sunset. I eat my main meal at mid-day (I'm a much better cook early on than in the evening), nap and relax during the hot part of the day and am re-activated in the evening.
Best of both worlds, so to speak.
I do notice a real drop in my energy level over what it was a few years ago, however, and there are occasional entire days when I can't do much at all but need to recuperate from stressful activities.

I have always been an owl, but lately, I go to bed late and wake up really early. Am I getting to be a mixture of both? Anyway, I sometimes manage a short nap in the afternoon, which does me a world of good. But one thing is sure, I am not a woman of habits

I have always been an owl, but lately, I go to bed late and wake up really early. Am I getting to be a mixture of both? Anyway, I sometimes manage a short nap in the afternoon, which does me a world of good. But one thing is sure, I am not a woman of habits

I used to be an owl, but, for the past several years, have become a lark out of necessity.
I remember wondering how people could go to bed so early. I think I used to say something to the effect that they’re sleeping half of their lives away. Well, guess who’s sleeping half her life away now?

This is so interesting! I come from a long line of larks and myself felt I had been dropped (by the stork) into the wrong family - being an owl. I am now a lark - even when I don't need to be - I am up - the body is a strange mechanism and likes to get up when it likes to get up! I was cheered to see that others had had similar transformations. I feel wider awake now for reading this! Alas - no not really - it is almost 5PM in Pasadena...

Somehow my info. got left off of that last post. :-)

I like routines for certain things; such as breakfast and bedtime, but in between those times I can vary it quite a bit. I am finding that as I get older, I resent any intrusion on my usual routines. If I am the one who varies it - it's fine, but woe unto anyone else who does it....LOL

Owl, here, as you can tell by the time I'm posting this comment. I had to get up early (for me) all those years I was teaching and got there right at the time we had to be but would always stay an hour or two later in the afternoon grading papers and planning. Now that I'm retired I can be in my natural rhythm and go to bed around 1 or 2 and get up around 9 or 9:30. I try not to make any appointments until late morning or early afternoon. It's not always possible, though, which means I'd better get to bed because I have to get up early at 7:45 in order to take my mother to the dentist in Nashville for her appointment at 10:00. It's an hour's drive.

'Night all! Wow! Most of you have been asleep for 4 or 5 hours by now. I'm sleeping really well when you get up. My mother is a lark and always told me I was missing the best part of the day (sunrises). I told her to tape them for me. She laughed.

Interesting post and timely for me Ronni, because I have a question in this regard for you and your loyal readers.

How old were you when you felt your energy level go down, if that has happened to you at all?

I ask because I am wondering if a chronic health problem I have is affecting my energy, or, if it is common to feel a drop of oomph at my age.

I also ask because anyone who reads about John McCain and his daily activities can see the man has an extraordinary amount of energy for his age.

I could not handle his schedule and I am 26 years younger than he is!

This is going to be a defining moment for our aging boomer society. Are we going to be trapped by routine or consumption type activities that will put us all to sleep by 3:00 P.M. on a daily basis; OR will we have the courage and forsight to change our lifestyle to become more productive and creative in our daily activities, which will enable us generally to have more balanced energy levels leading to a more meaningful life. So what are you going to do when you turn 60 years old? Will you be a sleeper or a keeper? i.e. a Rip Van Winkle or say more like McCain, Carter, etc.