The room was quite dark and the fan was still moving a warm air about the room in an attempt to control the hot, sticky mugginess from yesterday. It was one of those days that induced a sense of lethargy. That is probably why I was wide awake, I’d done most of my sleeping on my feet the day before. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw a glimmer of light, a faint glow on the horizon.
I argued with myself for a short while and the lazy me lost a good fight. How often am I awake at this hour? So I silently crept out of bed and rummaged in the half-light for my camera and slipped out the door.
The garden felt different. It was so still. There was hardly a puff of wind and the moon was doing its best to say “it is still technically night” as his light punctuated the blue-black sky, but yet there was another light. A glow in the east, stretching out across the land. It was still strangely warm as the birds struck up a chorus of unharmonious chirping and squawking, that somehow seemed to come together as a beautiful sound, punctuated by the crow of roosters near and far.
In the moon light the garden has a mystical air. The romanesco looked positively ghostly, the flowers were balled up tight and dark shadows were cast from the peas. It was as though I was intruding and shouldn’t have been there.
As the glow strengthened and the daylight began to rob the night of its grip, the temperature began to noticeably drop. I felt it in my fingers. A light fog began to gather in the distance, following the lines of the drains. The plants began to glow, like they were excited for what was to come. The source was coming, growth could begin again when the brightness poured deep into the cells.
While I was distracted by the way the soft light was playing off a fragile yet perfect spider web, the sun arrived. It happens so quickly. One moment its presence is alluded to and the next moment it is there, hovering above the surface of the earth radiating a golden glow unseen at other times of the day. It holds promise in its face. It will be another glorious, hot summer day. But it won’t just be another day – it will be today, full of it’s own spirit with wonderful things about to unfold. Starting with the flowers.
As the sun reached out and touched each plant one by one, illuminating them with a warm glow as if painting each one with a brush, I took one last look across the garden before the light became the harsh, brash one I usually woke up to, and I snuck back into a quiet mostly sleeping house, still warm from the day before, and an aroma of freshly brewed coffee wrapped me in its comforting embrace.
Today is going to be a great day, there is so much to be done.
Come again soon – see the results of today’s efforts, fuelled by such a delightful start.
Sarah the Gardener : o )
For a look into the heat of the day, check out my latest video:
Hi Sarah, I love all your posts but this one is just beautiful! Your poetic description of the day awakening makes me want to come North…. Down here its cold and raining….
Cheers
HI Marion. Thank you so much for your kind words. Cold and raining? that’s no good. The boffins have suggested rain in our future so I shall enjoy each moment of lovely weather. If I could bottle it, I’d send you some.
Cheers Sarah : o )
Gorgeous! What can I say ..love the pics and delightful prose! Your garden looks wonderful .. Thanks so much for sharing. I need to get up earlier 🙂
Hi Julie. It came as a bit of a shock how lovely it was at that time of day. I should do it more often – maybe at 6 not 4:30 though!
Cheers Sarah : o )
Sarah, what an amazing morning you shared with us. I loved the video of you and your handsome young son.. I can dream of gardening after watching the video, since we are deep into winter snow over here in northern Canada. So, I thank you for reminding me about my gardening last year. . Looking forward to your next post… Take care Sarah & Happy blogging to ya, from ~Laura~
Hi Laura. It was indeed incredible. I am so pleased I was able to share it with you. In fact I was surprized I was able to share it with myself!
Cheers Sarah : o )
Sarah, Cheers back.. Looking forward to your next video.. Take care , Laura 🙂
Lovely Sarah!. I too love it when I wake early and can enjoy the days awakening. Not often enough, but I’m loath to set the alarm. Blessings, Trills.xx
Hi Trills. There is really something special about the mornings. I would like to see more days like that, but maybe not quite so early!
Cheers Sarah : o ) x
Beautiful. Gardening is good for the soul!
Thank you so much. It is such a rewarding (although slightly hard work) thing to do.
Cheers Sarah : o )
I get up at 3am every day because I learned the value of starting your day early. It’s a most glorious solitary herald to the new day. No-one else is awake and you get that precious time to yourself. Out in the garden everything is starting to stir and you get the feeling that all is right with the world, a fresh clean slate to start your day anew all over again and how full of possibilities it is! What is that lovely purple/pink bud Sarah? It looks like an artichoke!
Hi Fran. It was really quite lovely, but I imagine it would take a bit of adjusting, because at the moment I’m not organised enough to go to bed early, and so I was completely exhausted after all day in the garden in the hot sun. The bud is from my flower garden – I think it is a straw flower. I should make more of an effort to stretch the day in the morning. It doesn’t feel like they are long enough. Cheers Sarah : o )
Straw flower? Is that what we call an everlasting over here? Looks like a very exotic artichoke 😉
Great pics Sarah!
Thanks Jen. It was a lovely morning. I should get up earlier more often. Cheers Sarah : o )