Before the sun rises and sets

Early this morning.

There is another alphabet, whispering from every leaf, singing from every river, shimmering from every sky.

~ Dejan Stojanovic

Dayglow cloud in a morning sky.  (Yes, it was really that bright and colorful.)

Before the sun rises, before the sun sets, sometimes there is poetry in the sky.  Clouds become words, light becomes punctuation, and the colors mingle with both to create something that is not-words, not-punctuation.  It is a sonnet for those willing to show up early to greet the day, an ode or haiku to wish us sweet dreams as the sun sets off on its evening journey to bring light and warmth to other parts of the earth.

Softly hovering in light and color.

All things want to float.

~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Three birds just before sunrise.

The weather has been the usual bipolar hot and cold we’ve come to expect from spring.  After some rather warm temperatures early in the week, a cold front bellowed through yesterday bringing with it gale-force winds, higher than usual tides (fish swimming in the woods!), some incredible clouds, a surprise or two, a wondrous sunset, and this morning’s amazing sunrise.

When the sky brightens and the colors begin to fade.

I’m back from my trip west to attend the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF).  I’ll tell you all about that trip and the films I saw very soon.  Maybe during our coffee chat this weekend.

Storm cloud stretched across the sky.

Although I was away for a short time, it felt like it had been much longer when I returned home to find that Spring had been having her way, creating changes in the woods, the meadows, the marshes, and the gardens.  I was surprised by what had happened in only a few days.  Changes seem less noticeable when I am right on top of them, but give me some time away and Mother Nature startles me by how quickly she can transform the landscape.

Looking down for a moment.

The sun is love. The lover,
a speck circling the sun.

A spring wind moves to dance
any branch that isn’t dead.

~ Rumi

Light and leaves.

The wild cherry trees are blooming and there are leaves on some of the other trees.  The grass has been growing like crazy and had to be mowed (it was like mowing hay!).  The Laughing Gulls have returned in large groups now and we can hear them over in the farm field next door, laughing and chattering and resting after their migration.

Return of the Laughing Gulls.

The seeds of the maple and oak in the backyard were lit up by the setting sun last night, before the clouds and rain returned.

Sunset reflected on the maple.

I wasn’t sure there would be much of a sunset since the clouds couldn’t decide whether they should thicken or part.  I watched the light in the trees and the sky to the west.

Fringe in the oak.

And then I turned around.  One of the important lessons I’ve learned about watching sunrises and sunsets is that there are times when the show — the color, the light — are not where you expect them to be.

Rising up from the marsh.

Sometimes I need
only to stand
wherever I am
to be blessed.

~ Mary Oliver, Evidence: Poems

Glowing weather.

Other magical things happened (an all pink rainbow, for instance!), but I will have to show them to you another day.  It’s time for me to move along and see about dinner.  I’m not sure what I’ll make tonight.  I was thinking about making a creamy cauliflower pasta dish from a recipe in The Thug Kitchen cookbook.  Or maybe something with the marinated tofu I baked this afternoon.  I originally intended that for breakfast bowls (with quinoa, steamed veggies, and a sauce of some kind), but I’m thinking that having the same bowls for dinner would be wonderful, too.

A glimpse of moon.

Thank you for dropping by today.  I hope to see you again this weekend for our coffee chat.

Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

A small reflection in the marsh.

A few of the 10,000 reasons to be happy:  166)  The personalities of clouds.  167)  All of the amazing things that happen in the sky.  168)  Storms and rainbows, sunrises and sunsets.  169)  The moon in all her phases.  170)  The song of the wind in the marsh.