Why I Wake Early

By Mary Oliver (my favorite poet)

Hello, sun in my face.

Hello, you who made the morning

and spread it over the fields

and into the faces of the tulips

and the nodding morning glories,

and into the windows of, even, the

miserable and the crotchety –

best preacher that ever was,

dear star, that just happens

to be where you are in the universe

to keep us from ever-darkness,

to ease us with warm touching,

to hold us in the great hands of light –

good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day

in happiness, in kindness.

While back East, I got into a habit of waking early with the sun. And I LOVED it. Now that I’m back in Utah–not so much. And I realized this morning it’s because I don’t have a “place” to welcome the new day here. On Hilton Head, I had the beach. In Florida, I had the river. So, I’ve got to find a place. In Utah. That fills me up. And makes me swoon.

That is my mission for today.

(pictures taken on my Grand’s property in Florida)