Rise and shine

   Loftis

Much of my journalism career has been spent at daily newspapers. I worked about 10 years over three stints on the sports desk at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (it was actually just the Arkansas Democrat when I started there; I’m old) and about the same amount of time in a variety of roles at the Pine Bluff Commercial.

At the Democrat-Gazette, my work shift was 4 p.m. to midnight. It was about the same in Pine Bluff. I also worked weekends and holidays, but that’s a story for another day.

The point here is that I was a night owl before I came to Carroll County. The opportunity to work a somewhat normal schedule is just one of the million reasons why coming here was the best career decision I ever made, but it took me a while to get adjusted. Thankfully, Bob Moore was willing to overlook my lack of punctuality the first couple of years I worked here.

Now, though, I’ve settled in and most mornings I’m here at a reasonable time. I’ve become a morning person as I’ve gotten older. Some of that is by necessity. There’s a lot to get done, always. But some of it has to do with a house full of dogs for whom nature tends to call pretty frequently.

Mondays are typically long days for me, since that’s the day we send the weekly newspaper to the press. It’s not uncommon for me to get to the office by 7. I might have set a new record today, though: 4:22 a.m. I had set my first alarm for 3:45 a.m. but I was halfawake by 3 a.m. when I heard the steady drumbeat of a Labrador retriever’s tail against the wall on my wife, Lisa’s, side of the bed. Lisa does most of the overnight doggie duty, but I figured I would get a jump on the day, so I made the first cup of coffee while Luna the Lab and 18-year-old Snow attended to their business. The other two dogs — and Lisa — made the smart decision to keep snoozing.

Something similar happened one morning last week. The dogs started stirring about 4 a.m. and Lisa asked if I’d mind taking them out. Again, I thought I’d get a jump on the day. I had my coffee, ate breakfast and showered. It was about 5:30 when Lisa got up. I was dressed and ready for work. Lisa — who is NOT a morning person — glanced at me and asked: “How do you get up so stinking early?” Ummmmm … The good news about getting up so early is that I get a chance to enjoy that first cup of coffee while I watch “SportsCenter,” and hopefully it means that I won’t be stumbling home at midnight tonight after I get the paper out. I have to get to bed at a decent hour so I can get up in the morning and do it all over again.

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Scott Loftis is editor and publisher of the Carroll County News. His email address is SLoftis@Carroll-CoNews.com.