THANKFUL FRIDAY

Wednesday

Josephine and I have been hitting the pavement for our morning walks right around the time the sun is coming up. It’s hard to believe that there is a little over a week left in August, but I can clearly see September on the horizon. The morning temperatures have required long sleeves on our walk and a jacket when riding the scooter. The sun is setting a little bit earlier in the evenings and it is a little bit slow to rise in the mornings. As we crossed Troost to head towards Tower Park on Monday morning, I looked at the sky to the East and it was beautiful. So I stopped and took a picture. Because that is what I do. Later when we got home, I sat down to upload that picture, labelling it ‘Monday’ and then I decided that my photography project this week would be a view of the sunrise every day this week.

When I looked up at the sky on Wednesday to take a picture, I was a little disappointed. The sunrise was not all that spectacular. This was the first thought that entered my brain as I went to frame the shot. Then I repeated that thought out loud so I could physically hear how stupid that sounds. Any morning I am up to see the sunrise is spectacular. The fact that the sun rises and sets at all every day is spectacular. After all of these months, you would think that there is nothing left to be taken for granted. Apparently sunrises are something I can still take for granted. For six months out of the year, the sun does not rise in Antartica. Once the sun finally shows up, it stays up for another six months. If you lived in Antartica, you would only see the sunrise once a year. When Talaura and I visited Maine that one year, we made it a point to be at Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park in order to watch the sunrise. We were not the only people present and there was a sense of excitement and anticipation for those very first rays of light to make their appearance. I can only imagine how those feelings would be intensified for that sunrise in Antartica.

The earth turning and the sun rising and falling is one of the only constants I have right now.

LOVE THURSDAY

Good morning sun

"Good morning sun"

I know the time change is coming. I know that in a few weeks we (or most of us all) will set our clocks back one hour and breath a sigh of relief at that make believe extra hour of sleep. My body has fallen for that trick of daylight savings. Five fifty AM sure would be a lot easier to face if it was really an hour later. Usually this five fifty AM is not so difficult, but as we creep deeper into Fall, that time in the morning gets really hard. My body feels it every year. It's very similar to the magnetic forces inside my brain that tells me where North and South are or more like where I feel North and South. I feel directions. And time changes. 

Even though my body feels like lead when the alarm goes off these days, I still crawl out bed. I still get in the shower. I still feed the animals and make my breakfast. I still get up and do the things I am supposed to do. My reward for getting up and doing those things this week has been the sunrise. Every morning, as I have pedaled my way along the bike route to work, I have been a witness to the sun rising up in the Eastern horizon in the most spectacular display. It streaks the sky with pinks and all of the shades of orange and red. It shifts and changes so that every time I glance at it it is different. More red than orange. Less pink. More orange than red. Each glance at the sky has been breathtaking. 

You're probably sitting there blinking because I do not have pictures. How is it I never took a photo? Don't think I didn't think about it. I did pull my bike over a few times to pause and frame out a shot, but I never took the picture. Those times I stopped, there was always something not right about the framing. Power lines criss crossed the sky. I wasn't high up enough. That building was taller than I remember. The framing was never right because those sunrises where not meant to be photographed. There is not a picture of that sky that I could have taken that would have truly expressed the amazing beauty of those sunrises. Instead, I settled for just being an eye witness. I was not the only person out and about at this time of day, but I am curious how many of those people who were out and about, were paying attention. How many of them noticed all the shades of orange?

Today for Love Thursday, I encourage you to notice all the shades of orange.