Today is December 21. The shortest days of the year are
past, and from now on they will gradually grow longer. It will be good to
see the sun early in the
morning again, instead of this dismal dark sky.
I’m pretty much a morning person. In summer I love getting
up early, seeing the new day dawning before most people are awake. It’s harder
in winter, though. When the windows are dead black, a wind is blowing, and the
house is cold, staying in bed is too tempting.
When I was going to school or working full time, I sometimes
sat down at my desk before the sun rose. I could think clearly then,
uninterrupted by whatever dark events and thoughts clouded my mind later. One
spring, for a class in animal behavior I even went to a nearby swamp at sunrise
every day to make a study of redwings’ courtship behavior. It was a magical
time of day, with pale golden light filtering through the trees, and only the
birds for company.
A few years later, I found myself crossing San Francisco Bay
in a ferry boat before dawn a few times a week. The moon and stars shone in an
inky sky above the bay. By the time I reached The City, the sun had risen,
illuminating the Transamerica Pyramid and Coit Tower. I had drunk some coffee and read the
morning Chronicle, ready for whatever
the day would bring.
Today is all too short, and I am much older. The sun rose at
7:20, and will set at 4:48. Less than ten hours of light! I woke early in the
darkness, and turned on some holiday lights while breakfasting. Tonight I will
light a candle on the dinner
table. I will delay the night.
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