Somehow, in the course of returning from my East Coast trip of last week, my internal clock has been radically changed. The last three days now, I have risen from bed well before dawn after a full night's sleep. Those who know me are well aware that this is a 180-degree turnaround from my normal schedule, in which sleep takes place from around 3 a.m. to around 11 a.m.

Portland weather has been cooperating with the new approach. The days and nights here have been crystal clear, calm, and relatively mild all week, with no change in the pattern in sight.

Getting up early and staying up sure is interesting. One does manage to get things done, Army-style, before 9 a.m. But man, try jogging at my usual time of 7 p.m.! Last night I was so tired out there on the road, it would have been comical had it not felt so bad. It was like sleepwalking -- very painful sleepwalking. And when I got down to the gym for my usual stretchout, I just lay on the mat and realized that I could have fallen sound asleep right there for many hours.

Typical me: Staring at CNN and ESPN loops at 3 a.m. just before conking out. Me last night: On the couch struggling to stay awake through the half-hour 10 p.m. newscast!

We'll see where this leads, but as I say, for the moment it's... interesting.