Sunrise

This morning I was woken up early; at about 5:40, after fighting for an hour to go back to sleep, I got out of bed, put on my robe, and went outside. It was the best thing that happened to me today.

It was so dark that I could only see things clearly by not looking straight at them. I could barely make out the sheep pen, not 50 yards away. The half moon was high in the sky and bright enough to cast a short shadow nearly underneath me. I do not know the names of the stars and planets that still lingered around her. A blanket of fog covered the field and crept between the trunks of the trees. The air was so still and silent that I could hear the occasional dripping of dew collecting on the grass, the trees, and the roof of the house. The only other sound was the final movement of the nightly concert of a cricket not to far from me. The tiniest move I made caused him to stop again. Clouds hanging low in the north-east were just beginning to pale. The fog gradually turned lighter and lighter shades of grey and the sky brightened long before the sun made his actual appearance over the tops of the tall pines.

It was the most wonderful thing.

Sunsets are always spectacular here, but those happen across the street, and so, in a sense, they belong to someone else. The sunrise seems to be more subdued, somehow, less showy. But when I watch the morning sky I am looking over the back of our property, and so I feel they "belong" to me. Every time I am up early enough to see the dark turn to dawn I am reminded of how good God is to us.

I know; a picture is worth a thousand words, especially on a blog. I tried to get one this morning. If I were a better photographer I might have captured the beauty of this morning. I might have done an even better job if I were a painter with talent, time, and proper materials at my command. But, not being a photographer or a painter, I write. I'm not sure if it took a thousand words, but I hope I have at least managed to express the simplicity and peace of that beautiful morning I will always remember.

God bless!