One of the benefits of wintry mornings is that the sun rises later according to the clock, so I need not bolt out of bed at 5.30 a.m. to catch the event.
In fact I can catch it from my bed now, being the end of autumn.
On this particular morning the light flooding my room was so glowingly golden that I knew a beauty was occurring. Bolt out of bed I did, and scurry for the camera.
It was chilly, but I didn’t wait to throw on more layers, knowing how very ephemeral the sight would be.
Pure gold … and not even a cheap thrill, but free!
As I write this and look over at the shades of grey and white that fill the sky where that glory had so recently been, I don’t like to say it’s banal by comparison, but it is!
At least it is changing constantly, being composed of clouds. Plain blue sky is but a background wash awaiting clouds to give it life.
If you have doubts about that, do check out The Cloud Appreciation Society site.
My erstwhile Wood Duck mother has found herself a special place for her daily beauty ritual.
Then she adds a deposit to the small black and white pile on the rock. She turns and looks me in the eye — ‘Can’t a girl get any privacy round here?’
A pair of wood ducks have installed themselves in my yard, which they like because it has a small dam close by. I come across the couple in odd places and at odd times.
As he patrolled around her, she awoke and began to groom herself up for the day, fluffing her elegant feathers and ferretting amongst them.
Finally, satisfied with her apearance, she gives him a coy look — ‘Ready, dear.’ — they begin the day’s grazing. Incidentally, they also fertilise the yard, as I am constantly treading in it!
