Every morning before I go to work I go outside, smoke a cigarette and watch the sunrise. I’ve done this, when I can, my whole life. There is nothing like the entire process. If you get up (or stay up, sometimes, yes) early enough, you can watch the light shade out the dark. It’s weird because it’s not a smooth process, as you might think. It’s kind of jerky, the light pulses up instead of flowing in. Or at least it did when I was up that late, or that early. That might have had something to do with it.

The other thing that you will notice, if you see the sun rise over a horizon, is how fast it moves. You strain your eyes into the red/pink sky and suddenly a little “bip” appears. It grows so fast that you only have about 30 seconds before you have to turn away. As the ancient Greeks knew, it looks like it’s being drawn by a chariot of wild Apollonian horses.

It moves so fast, y’all. I read a quote the other day from the comedian Norm McDonald, of whom I have mixed feelings, but I think he’s funny: “The only thing an old man can tell a young man is that it goes fast, real fast, and if you’re not careful it’s too late. Of course, the young man will never understand this truth.”

All I can say is try to find a spot to watch a sunrise, y’all, and carpe diem. Every single one, grab it and squeeze it and love it. It goes so fast.