16. Morning star

Daylight (this morning).

Daylight, full of small dancing particles
and the one great turning, our souls
are dancing with you, without feet, they dance.
Can you see them when I whisper in your ear?
All day and night, music,
a quiet, bright
reedsong. If it
fades, we fade.

~ Rumi

The moon last night. This is also pretty much what it looked like as it set this morning.

The humidity and dew were heavy again this morning.  The deck and boardwalk were so wet that you might have thought it had rained overnight.  The moon, setting to the west, was bright orange.  The sun, rising from the east as it always does, started out coloring the sky a lovely shade of pastel yellow and worked it’s way up to orange and then, as it got brighter, pink and peach.

She might be difficult to see, but that’s Venus shining in the sky this morning.

Venus, the Morning Star who is really a planet and was once a goddess, was ahead of the sun, gazing down on the Earth when I went out just before dawn this morning.  The Morning Star is said by some to be a symbol of hope and guidance.  We could probably use some hope and guidance these days.

Heavily sprinkled with dew.

Venus was the Roman goddess of love.  Roses and myrtle were thought to be associated with her (or Aphrodite, as the Greeks knew her).  Doves, scallop shells, and dolphins were also associated with her.  Julius Caesar claimed Venus as his ancestor and gave her a festival on October 9 and a shrine on a hill in Rome.  Venus had several titles including the Purifier, the Mother, and the Changer of Hearts.  She was married to Vulcan who was a god of fire, and the mother of Cupid, the god of love whose arrows have pierced many a heart.

Another morning bloom.

As the sun grew brighter this morning, Venus dimmed in our sky.  Her light will return to us tomorrow.  The sky to the west, where the moon had gone, became beautiful shades of magenta and purple while the few clouds streaking across the sky to the east turned orange.  Roosters crowed.  When I started my Forty Early Mornings adventure, I thought there was one rooster crowing to announce the sun’s arrival, but I realized this morning there are two of them, one a little further off than the other.

A few clouds showed up to highlight the sun’s morning colors.

A bird sang with the rising of the Morning Star and the sun.  I don’t know what kind of bird it was, but its song was mesmerizing and beautiful.  Her song traveled from east to west, leading the sun and following the moon.

Myrtle (the white, fluffy looking shrub) at the back of the pond.

My yoga and meditation practices were just as lovely and peaceful as the sunrise.  As I sat down to write this up, I was thinking that it is silly of me to try to describe my practice.  At best I can say it was lovely, peaceful, calming, centering, grounding, or even blissful, but honestly, it’s difficult to describe the overall feeling of it.  Physically, I am feeling more comfortable in my body than I have in a very long time.  The fast-mimicking diet may be contributing to that, too.  All aches and pains are gone, and I can’t remember when I could last say/write that.  It was one of the results I was hoping for.  (See Running On Empty at The Scientist for more on fasting, which is where I got the idea to try a fast-mimicking diet.)

One other note on the fast-mimicking diet:  Food tastes amazing lately!  It is surprising how good it is when you are eating a lot less than you’re used to.  I savor every morsel.  I also wholeheartedly appreciate every morsel.  Tomorrow is the last day, and then I’ll ease back into what might be considered my regular diet which consists of vegetarian days, vegan days, and pescatarian days.

Getting ready for Walktober by breaking in some new hiking boots.

Let’s talk about Walktober, shall we?  M has surprised me, and I’ll be taking my walk in an unexpected place which I shan’t tell you about now because I want it to be a surprise for you, too.  I will also be spending time with Little Wookie (my grandson) and I hope to see my granddaughters and their parents if they can manage it (my granddaughters are busy young ladies who keep their parents very busy, too).  What all this means to those of you participating in Walktober this year (see the sidebar for a link if you’re new here) is that it’s going to throw off the dates I’d originally planned.  That’s good news if you need more time because I’m extending it out to the 28th.  I am hoping to post the official Link Here for Walktober post next week so that those of you who may have already taken your walks (or will be taking them this weekend) will have a place to leave a link.  If I don’t get around to posting the official Link Here post next week, then it will have to wait.  I’ll be spending time with family and, naturally, want to give them all of my attention.

And if that gets too confusing, no worries.  I’ll find your link wherever you leave it (as long as it’s somewhere here on my blog, of course) and will gather it in when I do the round-up of all the walks at the end of the month.

Cloud reflections on the pond.

Thank you so much for stopping by today.  Be good, be kind, be loving.  Just Be.  🙂

A path through the meadow that will be a forest someday.

A few of the 10,000 reasons to be happy:  351)  A visit to the dentist.  Yes, I know.  Who is grateful for a visit to the dentist?  It was just the normal cleaning (thank you, Joni the hygienist) and check-up (thank you, Dentist), and all is well.  352)  All is well, and I’ve gotten a “healthy” rating when it comes to my teeth and gums.  353)  The beautiful moon rise last night.  354)  The beautiful moon set this morning.  355)  A feel-good day on all levels.

An autumn bouquet.