I don’t know about you, but I am not an early morning person, yet at the same time I am. I find it really hard to step out of my night time dream life (unless the dream was a bad one, which, luckily, hardly ever happens anymore) and get out of my warm and comfortable bed. Yet, when I do, and get out there in nature and am blessed with light and colors like these… it makes it all worth it.
Especially on a Sunday, when the early morning traffic of the weekday is not there, and everything is particularly quiet, the stillness and magic of sunrise is twice as soothing. That is why I am an early morning person even if I am not. What would we be without our little paradoxes? Life would not be as fun or interesting, would it!?
I have recently come across a quote – I have no idea who by – that deeply resonates with the way I feel when I am up before the sun. I am sharing it in one of the images below, but here it is: “I have always liked the time before dawn, because there’s no one around to remind me who I’m supposed to be, so it’s easier to remember who I am.” Does this resonate with you, too?
And yes, I found another one, by the ever so brilliant Rumi: “The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep.” Which is just how I have been feeling these past few weeks. I know this is a call I need to answer.
I sleep well most nights, and as my bed has windows on three sides plus a skylight just above it, I tend to wake up around dawn. At this time of the year, dawn is happening earlier every day. I knew this was coming, and I do have a comfortable and soft, total-black-out eye mask, but I am choosing not to wear it. Sometimes I fight it, of course, but more and more I am allowing myself to stir early, stretch, cuddle with the pups for a little while first, then get up with the sun – or thereabouts. That way I get to enjoy that early morning freshness of both air and energy, and that quality of stillness which is unmatched even by the night.
Of course, in order to capture images at sunrise, I need to set the alarm and wake up loooong before the dawn, which is what I did when I decided to go out and capture the beauty of one of the vineyards near where I live while the wild mustard was at its peak.
It was glorious! It was like swimming in an ocean of yellow. I bathed in the light of the sunrise and the yellow of wild mustard, which was waist high. Like forest bathing, but in a vineyard. I hope these images give you at least part of the feeling I had when photographing them.
I hope you have enjoyed this photo story and soaked up the beautiful yellow of the mustard. To extend that pleasure, I have prepared a new wallpaper for your computer’s desktop using one of these images. You can find it at the dedicated page and download it. Feel free to share this with friends and family who might enjoy it.
Now what I would like to know is: do you enjoy early mornings? Or are you a night owl? Or possibly a bit of a paradox like me?
If you enjoy the beauty of Nature, you will enjoy these other photo rich articles:
And if you are exploring the California Wine Country, you might enjoy these:
