Waning gibbous

New Year’s Day, 2013

Last night my nose registered the cold crispness of the air.

This morning, I opened my blinds to a clear blue sky, a waning gibbous moon still high and bright in the west, and a pink chiffon scarf hiding the mountains on the horizon. A second morning of take-my-breath-away surprise.  Yesterday, salmon cotton puffs scattered the eastern sky in the early morning when I opened the living room blinds.

I realized that part of the pleasure of beauty comes from the surprise, the unexpected, unanticipated. I’m reminded of travelers who discard the well-planned itinerary and find a delight no guide book described.

But today far surpasses yesterday’s delight. Today is New Year’s Day. The new year begins with a clear blue sky – an auspicious beginning, especially because blue sky is so rare on a Seattle winter morning! Frost whitens all the rooftops and crisps the grass and lingering leaves of perennials in the garden. This moment is perfect; how can I keep from writing!

Heuchera, frosted

Right now, my house still shades my own yard, but the madrona a block away shimmers in the light. How I love this scene of trees from my bedroom window, mostly evergreen tickled with some bare deciduous branches, rolling all the way to the Olympic Mountains on the horizon, here and there rooftops of houses peaking through openings in the tree cover. Not a single high-rise or industrial building in sight. I have been so blessed these 25, going on 26 years.

9:00 – The sun just rose high enough to shine through the blinds on the south window, right into my eyes. Rise and shine, indeed!