With an early morning blast-off scheduled for 7:30, I set my alarm for 6:30 "just in case" this was the morning I'd be sleeping in.

But like most mornings, I was up WAY before then!

Now Tom is up early (and no, definitely not happy about it) because Brownie (uncharacteristically) started barking at something in the yard.  Upon investigation I discovered that the mallard couple has stopped by a morning swim.

They were seemingly unperturbed by that noisy creature, who (as usual) had NO intention of getting into the pool with them.