Sunrise From Our Back Yard

I’ve posted before about how I am a morning person and hubby is a night person, but we manage a compatible rhythm that works well for us. Part of what I love about early mornings are indeed sunrises and I’ve seen some great ones – especially when we’re on a dive cruise and you get to watch the sun seemingly rise from the water. I have to admit that even though it’s totally different in the mountains (and we don’t spend much time there), that can be spectacular, too. The very stillness of that hour of the morning is something I greatly appreciate, and if you’ve read Irises to Ashes I describe a couple of sunrises through the main character’s eyes.

When we visited the lovely fishing town of Sete, France quite a few years ago, I slipped out of the hotel right before daybreak during that time that it’s light enough to see, but the sky is still that pale gray. As a fishing village, you had boats getting ready to head out and the night boats that had come in. In a small town, they didn’t have many 24-hour places (probably none in fact), but they did have a few that opened very early. I strolled the streets, hearing the sounds of a handful of cafes getting ready and watching birds wheel overhead and come to perch on top of street lights that were just going off. Several cats were roaming about and the people who were preparing for the day waved when they saw me.

Although I mostly come up to the office and start work before sunrise, there are mornings when I pause and step out into the back yard to look at the sky and take a few sips of coffee. The other day, I snapped this photo as a reminder of why I enjoy it. And yes, I realize that sunrises look a great deal like sunsets.