The final day of the year has arrived, and here in Michigan, it is cloaked in clouds and blocked by fog. This is the last morning that I have committed myself to rise before the sun and document his rising. Many mornings, the glow at the horizon starts more than an hour before dawn, and I have a couple of hours of time spent capturing the many moods of the sky as it welcomes, and is warmed by, the sun. Other days, like this morning, there is only gray, and slightly lighter gray until by the clock I know the sun has risen.
I have learned a lot of things through this project. And while I am still processing, and will be processing for a long time, there are many lessons I have already mastered. I have learned truths about the sun, the moon, and the stars that I have never heard hinted at in any textbook, science show or planetarium. I have seen a lot of things that I can’t explain, and have no easy answers for. There is far more wonder in the skies that I dreamed was possible.
I have learned a lot about my neighbors here in this corner of the world. One might think that a project like this one, in which I rise before most people are awake and do my work in obscure corners in order to photograph the sky, that I would hardly see anyone. But the truth is that the world is kinder and more concerned that anyone ever told me. I have to be careful to signal and display what I am doing (by holding my camera out so others can see)–not because I might get hit or attacked, but because so many are out looking for others to help that I will be questioned in a moment if I am all right. Thank you to all who have seem me by the side of the road, or parked in a “field access” drive, or lingering at the cemetery, and have stopped to try to help me. or checked on me repeatedly to see if I was all right–you have done a lot to dispel my fears and renew my hope in our community. I am sorry for making you worry!
I have had a lot of adventures, and have learned a lot of lessons. Rocks, somehow, end up in the dirt road, be they small or as large as my tire. A place that was safe to drive in the dark yesterday can suddenly become treacherous overnight! I have lost my patched-up exhaust numerous times, but someone always helps. (I send out a big thank you to the kind person who heard the suddenly loud exhaust and interrupted their breakfast to make sure I was all right–you warmed me up on that chilly morning!)
I have learned how much people love privacy, and I believe that if we understood how our electronic devices coordinate to spy on us, we would be much less apt to allow them inside our homes–especially wireless things, combined with AI. Privacy is autonomy, right? No one can plot to take something from you if they have no clue what you have, be it physical property or intellectual property or even characteristics, like what I like to buy on Ebay. Privacy is important in order to maintain control, and it must be guarded. In our county, people plant trees near the house and close their curtains and put up fences, and I think that’s healthy.
But I also thank those who are most generous with their land, and allow me to camp out on their “back 40” to photograph the sun!
This has become one of my favorite places to be.
I learned that there is something about the early morning that energizes the world. Yes, the sun rises, but before he even comes up, there is a hum of energy, an almost tangible buzz of electricity in the pre-dawn time that makes one feel hopeful, creative, and awakes a longing for connection.
The mighty One, God, The Lord, has spoken, and summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Psalm 50:1
He will be 14 years old this spring.
I am always lonely after the morning adventure, and Mr. Darcy, our old sweet dog, is welcome company, indeed! He has gone with me most mornings, but is harder to rouse lately.
That morning energy is there for a purpose, and can be used most constructively. I used to know a man who said that if it wasn’t done by noon, then the day was over. He was a sour old fellow, but there was truth in that idea if you dig around a little. We are meant to rise early and get the work done early. (At least, that is what it seems like to me.) Benjamin Franklin said, “Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” I think he was right.
There are many more lessons I have learned through this project, and I will continue to process thoughts and pictures and post about it as I can, but I must get ready to for the year’s last sunrise–if we can see it in this neck of the woods–and so I will leave you with a couple of the beauties from the last year.
The sun is always up there, right? Just because the clouds, or plane trails, or fog or whatever fills the space between us, the sun is just as bright, just as beautiful, and just as regular as ever he was. And that fulfills a promise from the Lord. He promised, after the flood, “While the earth remains, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:22)
All of those things, the seed-time (spring) and harvest, the alternations of cold and heat, the day and the night, all of them are dependent upon the sun. So as long as the earth remains, the sun will rise and set.
I have no idea how long the earth will remain, but if you wake up and we are all still here, then the sun is still shining somewhere up above the clouds! Count on it. If you become sad from the lack of light in the winter, just remember that. There are days when it is so dark, so utterly gray, that it almost hurts to look outside. Feel free to lift a picture of the sunrise off this blog and use it as a desktop background, or print it out to remember what has been and will be once again. I am going to put up some pictures for just that purpose in a bit.
So happy New Year’s Eve, and I wish you a beautiful New Year, full of hope and filled with promise. The darkness of our current landscape prepares us to long for and love the light, and call out in our hearts to Jesus. Do it! Every day is a chance for a new start. Let his warmth and light flow over you and be comforted!
“Today if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. . .” (!) Hebrews 3:7-8
The Fullers Four 