Typing as the sun rises, I’m reflective of how beautifully each day begins.  The pinks and purples that present themselves against a baby-blue background create a gorgeous vista all around.  I awoke early this morning, and ventured downstairs, past my sleepy Bassett hound, Fred.  His tail gently thumped the carpet as he acknowledged my movement, then settled again on the plush floor when I’d gone.   In the living room, I passed the remnants of a “fort” built last night by my son, his friend, and my daughter:  dining room chairs arranged in a square, then covered with every blanket, sheet and towel available to them and within their reach.  The boys had abandoned their stations at some point in the night, opting for the sofa and the recliner, while my tiny daughter continued her guard under her pink blanket on the floor.  As I tiptoed by her, she giggled in her sleep, and I realized that I couldn’t think of anything more heart-warming than that:  a lovely dream being played out in the face and little laugh of my slumbering 3-year-old – true “visions of sugarplums”, perhaps…

Presently, I am sitting on my deck, enjoying a cool morning sunrise, and sipping strong coffee quietly brewed in my French press so as not to wake any youngsters.  I am joined by my three cats.  Their scope is not one of colorful sunrises, but of birds darting by the house, just out of their reach.  Yet still they fantasize over the possibility of a feathered capture.  Feline bliss!  Over many years of observation, I can say with a fair amount of conviction that I hear the first birdsongs of the morning around 5am.  I cannot comprehend this innate clock they seem to possess, but I don’t have to.  Some mysteries are better left to contemplate.  How splendid it is that birds begin each day by singing, rain or shine?  Hmmm.

Peace – Aahh!  And I haven’t even taken my meds yet!

This is a short entry, just to remind those who should happen upon it that life is grand, our days, brand new every 24 hours.  It’s no coincidence that the sun sets in much the same way as it rises:  magnificently.  Begin refreshed, and retire content.  Forgive yourself for yesterday’s gaffes, and move forward into the genesis marked by the paints in the sky.  Hey, sing a song.  It works for the birds!