A Winter SunriseDonna L. Long

sunrise darkest before dawn — Sunrise – Darkest before the Dawn.

I watched the Sunrise on Wednesday. After days of cloudy mornings and bleak blustery days, the Sun came out.

When I awoke, it was still dark outside. Dark and cold. That old saying about it being darkest before the dawn really is true. The night never seemed so dark and shadows so black as the moments before the Earth turns toward the Sun.

I saw a small sliver of light on the horizon. My horizon consistent of the roofs of my neighbors’ houses. Through the extra tall trees on the street behind mine, I could see that first glow of morning light.

the sky brightens as the Sun rises — The sky brightens as the Sun rises

As I watched the light brighten the sky, I had to remind myself repeatedly that the Sun was not rising above us, but the Earth was rotating on its axis around the Sun. As we sail through space, we are tumbling in slow motion. But it isn’t really slow motion, but shockingly fast. At the equator, the surface of the Earth is spinning at 1,000 miles per hour. And I don’t feel a thing! Thank goodness for gravity.

Is it magic that we don’t feel the spinning? What if we did? Perhaps there are people who can feel the spin. What would it feel like? Would you feel as if you were standing on a magic carpet, flying through the air?

sunrise on February 17, 2021 after many snowy mornings – my bedroom window facing east

The longer I live, the more I see that this place, our Mother Earth, is magic. There is no other way to describe the birth of a child, any child and every child, whether they are two-legged or four-legged. Or the magic of a butterfly larva changing into an adult butterfly with multicolored wings.

Water quenches our thirst. The air is just right for us to breathe. All beings of the Earth move and live in harmony and balance with the turnings and cycles of the seasons. To live out of sync with the cycles and natural ways of the Earth is to be out of balance. Much like the notes of a piano are in balance with one another when the piano is in tune. And many of us humans are simply out of tune.

I wonder how anyone can feel separated from this incredible place. I could never understand it. They breathe the air, drink the water, eat the fruit, but still think this planet has little or no value except what they can rip from her. I don’t know what kind of mind can think that way.

As I watched the Sun reveal herself, gratitude filled me up inside. I said my morning prayers and songs. I was grateful to be alive and to be me.