Every Daybreak Is A Gift

 

 "Whether I retire to bed early or late, I rise with the sun."
-  Thomas Jefferson - Mr. Jefferson rose early everyday for 50 years.

Like Mr. Jefferson, I am an early riser. I was just born that way. Yes, there are a few of us. When we moved here to the farm, I discovered that I had a ringside seat to watch the sunrise every day. So for years now, I have photographed the sky. Mostly in the early morning. Sometimes later in the day if I notice something special. 

Making these hundreds of photographs of the same spot day after day has made me much more aware of the seasons changing. More aware of the weather. More aware of nature. More aware of myself.

All of these photos are from this summer. The final photo is today's sky, just before the sun came up—truly daybreak. If you are not an early bird, here is your chance to see what daybreak looks like. And I love these quotes from a few other "morning people."

  "Angels in the early morning may be seen the
dews among.
Stooping, plucking, smiling, flying.
Do the buds to them belong?"
-  Emily Dickinson

 "The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep."
-  Rumi 

 

"Morning glory is the best name, 

it always refreshes me to see it."
-  Henry David Thoreau  

"When you arise in the morning, 

think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - 

to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love."
-  Marcus Aurelius

"The difference between rising at five and seven o'clock in the morning, for forty years, supposing a man to go to bed at the same hour at night, is nearly equivalent to the addition of ten years to a man's life."
-  Doddridge