I also had to do the morning paper route with my brother a couple of times a week, but that didn't turn me into a morning person. When Dad took us fishing it was torture to get up before dawn, and the same goes with the hobby of a dozen years, mountain climbing, when we had to meet in a dark parking lot to carpool to the trailhead. It was the glory of those activities that pushed me to push myself to rise early.

Even as a retiree I tend to be up until 11 or 12. My next door neighbor gets up before dawn and gives my dogs a treat over the back fence: I know this because one of them barks to get his attention as soon as his kitchen light is turned on. If he has his hearing aids in he hears her and they get their treat. There are some issues with this system, but they love it. I go back to sleep until I'm ready to get up.