Earlier Dawn

Earlier dawn: 

we are just a few days away from an earlier dawn, clocks springing forward by an hour and an extra hour of sunlight gained. This means that my long walk through winter's darkness soon ends, I'll catch the first hint of dawn as I begin my walk and end in the full display of sunrise. Physically, this will be much better for me, getting more direct sunlight to the eyes increases a valuable hormonal response that helps regulate our circadian rhythm as well as other healthful benefits. I'm also looking forward to the stir of more life, more wildlife on the move with light, some waking while other, more nocturnal creatures begin to retreat to their dens to wait out the long hours of the day. 

we're just a few hours from an earlier dawn.

and so much will change. 

more truly, this has been creeping up slowly for some time now, from a first increase of just a few unnoticed seconds, to three minutes of extra light each morning. There's been a soft glow of ambient light at the end of my walks for several days, and I hear the early call of song birds, dawn chorus, trading notes sparingly, as if in practice the full sunrise. When you walk through every season there comes a keen sense to these morning trends, developed through deep listening and being ever watchful. But of course daylight saving time is quite a leap forward, an entire hour gained that throws me slightly off my rhythm. With this I soon leave full darkness behind and will begin my walks with a first hint of sunlight as my guide. No longer wandering through the dark. 

I'll miss it though. 

walking through winter's darkness is a cold, but healing balm, an opportunity to retreat from the busier paths of spring and embrace a more solitary approach to life. At least for a season. In a way it's a much deeper circadian rhythm, an annual cycle of exploring the dark and all it offers and then emerging to the light with valuable secrets gained from these excursions. My preference would be without an hours leap forward, to go by nature's own time, slower, allowing the light to find me in just the right moment I'm ready to emerge.  Maybe one year, when I'm no longer bound by any sense of conventional time, I'll simply ignore the leap all together and set my course by nature's time. 

until then...

I enjoy my last few hours of the morning's darkness,

walking my towards an ever earlier dawn,

~

Peace, Eric