I am an early to bed and early to rise kind of gal. One of the things I love about waking early is watching the sun rise each morning. Luckily, I have an upstairs bedroom with a pair of east-facing windows, so not only can I sometimes view the moon in the eastern sky at night but invariably I see the sun coming up.
While I do so enjoy the changing of the seasons, I can’t help but love the early rising of the sun best, so that at this time of year I’m happy to see it coming up earlier and earlier each day. One year I kept in a small appointment book a record of the rising and setting of the sun, as well as notes on seasonal things like my first notice of singing frogs and cicadas, sightings of various wildflowers and trees budding out, as well as leaves changing colors and first snow. I have wanted for several years to be able to know the first and last day of katydids’ and cicadas’ singing, but I’ve never quite managed to pin that down.
But here I’ve wandered. I think having an east-facing bedroom window is a beautiful thing. Even if the dawn is not spectacular every day, it is different each day and it marks a beginning. It’s lovely to watch the start of a brand new day.
“This is a wonderful day, I have never seen this one before.” – Maya Angelou
I have a goal–a dream, really–of building a deck on the east side of the house, as well. It would come off of the dining room with, ideally, French doors. Morning sun and evening shade in summer. Perfect! I imagine dinner parties spilling gracefully out to the deck on a balmy evening. Light laughter and ease. Watching the moon rise over the neighborhood. The floaty curtains blowing in with the breeze. Cicadas, katydids, crickets, and frogs serenading. Ahh.
Of course, this scenario does call for a rather larger dining room than I have, to accommodate those French doors and all of that spilling. Still. It’s a picture I have had in my mind since I bought the house in 1991. I’m feeling like a version of it will happen soon. And when it does, there will be a party.
As things stand right now, I do have my east facing bedroom, dining room, kitchen, and studio windows, from whose vantage point I can see and hear all of those lovely things. And though my bedroom is tiny, I would not want to give up that eastern view for more room.
| “You have slept for millions and millions of years. Why not wake up this morning?” – Kabir I hope you wake up tomorrow and say, as Anne Lamott’s grandson does, “This could be the best day ever!”If you’re looking for my cards or art, you’ll find all of that on my website. And if you enjoy these letters, feel free to forward this one to anyone you think might like it. Finally, you’ll find past letters and poems here. Thanks for listening, Kay P.S. MerryThoughts is the name of my first book, out of print at the moment. The word is a British one, referring both to a wishbone and to the ritual of breaking the wishbone with the intention of either having a wish granted or being the one who marries first, thus the “merry thoughts.” |