Morning Light

It’s my favorite part of the day…
when the world is just waking up.
I’m up at 5am, just about always..
for no good reason other than
it is what it is.
When I was young it was the sound of the cicadas on
a summer morning,
 or the garbage truck clanking down the road
with the sound of metal pails being tossed aside.
(good ole City of New York sanitation doesn’t care that it’s 6am)
Here on the farm it’s the dew on the grass and flowers..
the restless whinny of the horses
when they spy me ambling up the hill,
chickens clucking for treats right behind me.  
Even on the rare occasion that we take a vacation…
I’m always first up.
If we’re on the Vineyard
 I  walk down Water Street in Edgartown
in search of coffee at Espresso Love, joining other early risers
who are doing the same.
We used to visit my grandmother
on Panama City Beach…The memory
that stays with me the clearest is
the  morning jogs up Surf Drive…
listening to pool maintenance crews
and sidewalk sweepers do their thing,
the smell of salt and chlorine and the grind of sand underfoot.
There’s a certain peace in the early hours..
but what I love  most …. is the light.

32 thoughts on “Morning Light”

  1. yes, I am an early riser, too…..I love sitting with a cuppa tea and the perfect quiet of a sleeping house…..except for me.
    It's the most peaceful time of the day.

  3. Oh yes! Perfect time of the day… To be the first to rise and make the coffee, pet the pups and take a swing on the front porch to watch the deer across the road. Love it!

  4. Being a mom I had to learn to get up early and have been doing so for the past 36 years. Now it's stuck! I used to hate it but now I love getting up and watching the sun rise with my cuppa, pups by my side and often a paint brush in my hand. I do look forward to going to bed around 9:00 now though!

  5. There are many days I see the sun start to rise, as I head to bed. I'd love to be a morning person, however my body refuses to cooperate.

  6. I'm up at 445am every morning it's a very quite and peaceful time !!! I hope you have a great weekend!!!

  7. I'm up early too. There is no sleeping in with animals around. I try to keep the kitchen as dark as possible when I get my coffee so the donkeys can't see me. I noticed the past couple of weeks that the sunrise is just a little bit later.

    Very pretty flower photos:-)

  8. I didn't realize that there was that time in the morning! I am SO not a morning person. I really wish I was a morning person though if it was as beautiful as your pictures!

  10. I've always been a night owl, but the past few years, I've started waking early and can't get back to sleep. Can't say that I am a natural early riser–I don't feel alert or good until I am on my second cup of coffee! I do love the morning light!

  11. I've always been a night owl, but the past few years, I've started waking early and can't get back to sleep. Can't say that I am a natural early riser–I don't feel alert or good until I am on my second cup of coffee! I do love the morning light!

  12. Thank you for a lovely post….I have always risen early as we were dairy farmers until we retired. It's the best time of the day and, as you say, the light is just lovelu. I also love the early morning birdsong. Thanks for this post. Joan

  13. Yes to the light!

    I'm up early right now (5:20 here) and watching the sky get lighter and lighter.

    I love walking out on the deck with George (dog) and spying on the neighbors.

    That's a lie. I don't

    That's really the truth. I do.

    smooches girl

  14. I've made that walk down Water St to Espresso Love early in the mornings myself. Watching Edgartown and the Vineyard awake is a wonderful way to start the day, any day.

    Your photos, as usual, are beautiful.

  15. I love your photos, I can look at them and feel the early morning warmth in the air. Makes me want to just reach into them and feel the morning sun on my hand.
    Thanks for sharing them.

  17. Karen, you live in paradise! The photo's are wonderful. I get up usually around 6:30 or 7, and try to start my walking at least by 8; it's hot even then. 🙂

    Have a great day!

  19. why is it summer mornings are so beautiful yet i want to stay in bed longer and longer and end up missing most of them…..

  20. Me, too, Karen. I am an early riser and I love to watch the movement of sun along the shore- it starts by reflecting off the shoreline across the Bay from us and gradually reaches our house as the sun rises and comes up on the non-bay side of our home. Beautiful! xo Diana

  21. Karen,
    Beautiful photos, beautiful post. I admire you. I don't sleep well. Have trouble falling asleep. NEVER get enough sleep and so I love to sleep and when I can, I do!
    xo, Cheryl

  22. Karen,
    Beautiful photos, beautiful post. I admire you. I don't sleep well. Have trouble falling asleep. NEVER get enough sleep and so I love to sleep and when I can, I do!
    xo, Cheryl

  28. I'm a night owl and my husband is an early morning riser. He can't ever figure out why I don't remember all the things he tells me in the wee hours while he's getting ready for work. Morning looks beautiful at your house. Maybe I just need to move to the country to change my sleep pattern. I know my chickens and dogs would approve!

  31. Oh, the beautiful beautiful light! My husband is the earlier riser; as for me, if I sleep past 8, I get upset. I don't like missing my mornings.

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