Here on Long Island, we're still getting the edges of a pesky low that has unsettled our weather all week. Looking up the neighboring yard, I just saw a brief, beautiful little sun shower that made the grass brilliant and glossy. More often this week, it's been gloomy or humid or rainy. One break this weekend was a drop in temperature, so the nights have been great for sleeping under a blanket or two, and we even had a fire Sunday evening, the first of the season.
When I walked out at 6:00 this morning, it was cool and still early dawn, with just the edges of light. I was walking alone, so I had my i-Pod Nano on shuffle to make the walk easier. The mix was unusual, like my eclectic taste in music. Bob Dylan, The Christ Church Choir of Cambridge University, Aretha Franklin, Mumford & Sons, etc. I love the surprises of the shuffle, particularly when the tune has a beat that picks up my step -- this morning a couple of pieces featuring the Irish skin drum, the bodhran, really worked for me. Johnny "Ringo" McDonagh of Arcady had a sure and insistent hand on the beater that made me walk stronger and almost feel like I was dancing a good quick reel.
The clouds in the building light of the dawn were at first pale silver, and then became almost mauve in the first color the as yet unrisen sun provided. "How can I keep from singing?" goes the old hymn. How, indeed. It's easy to feel gratitude and expansiveness and connection on such a morning. The poets and psalmists of all the traditions have variations on moments like this, with all of creation "glorifying" the Maker. I think the experience they're reflecting is one of wonder, joy and awe at such a beautiful moment -- and gratitude seems the most natural of emotions.
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