Sunrise

For years before, and then after, I tracked the exact minute of sunrise, day by day. Not that I was up at sunrise – especially in the summer. It just seemed important to know when daylight would arrive. It fostered resentment for darker days of the year, especially during many years in Oregon.

But even in those few years in California, I meticulously tracked sunrise there – and also here.

Surprising, then, that this year I’ve paid little attention.

What changed? Is it a factor of my age? Am I losing something by such neglect? Am I becoming less Virgo and more . . . more – what? Libra? In my chart the moon is in Libra. But I have Gemini hidden in there, too. So maybe I’m finding balance and gaining ability to see more than one approach to the rhythms of life.

It feels like a new freedom. I can embrace each season. I don’t have to leave home to find sunshine in winter. I can jog with rain sprinkling my face. I can bundle up against damp foggy days. I can inhale wild scents and sights in spring and go near-naked in the summer.

I can be alive! I am alive! What a blessing.