You Can’t Lose
Sunrises are never easy. They never start with a lie in. And sometimes the sun doesn’t even bother turning up. But when by this time you’ve already been up and out, you can’t really lose for the rest of the day.
I learned a lot of this back in October when for some crazy reason I decided I’d get up and out for every sunrise of the month. I’d be up whether it was sunny or pouring with rain, out taking photos, walking, biking or just sitting and watching the view
Oh wow what a month it was.
Sometimes I’d camp out in my van, sometimes I’d stop somewhere on the way to work and sometimes I’d ride my bike from my front door.
Every day was different.
Every day was interesting.
Every day it was worth the early start.
Oh for sure there were days I didn’t want to get out of bed. Of course I wouldn’t when it’s pouring with rain outside. Though 20 minutes later when I’m out and jumping in puddles life seems pretty great.
Let me tell you about the first morning. This one was quite good.
I had driven 30 minutes or so from my house the night before and parked up in my van. The forecast was showing it more likely to be sunny over that way in the morning
When I woke up and poked my head out, there was a fair amount of cloud but the light was beginning to come through. I hiked up the rocky hill nearby, it wasn’t a long walk but it was a steep one. As I was hiking up it began to rain, I was somewhat disappointed at first but carried on up.
It had stopped before I reached the top where I could see this and other rain showers passing across the landscape. These are not what ruined the morning but what made it so good. The bright orange sun came up beyond them turning the dark rain clouds into quite a spectacle when the light hit them.
I sat at the top watching these showers and clouds for at least an hour all by myself. I’m sure there were many people down in the villages below still tucked in bed or sleepily making coffee, unfortunately missing out on all this.
The hardest part of the whole thing was convincing people that it would be worth getting out of their bed to join me. A brave few did and these were some of the most special mornings of the month. Sharing the cold morning with others is amazing and it gets better when they see the orange glow of our sun peaking over the horizon or the clouds in the distance that have turned bright pink.
I'm pretty sure I could do a better job of convincing more people to join me, now I have a month of photos and video to help my cause. I just won’t show them the ones where the sun had stayed in bed. Though if they’re open to it they'd probably enjoy these days too.
The grey mornings still set me up for the day ahead.
They still got me out of bed in the morning.
And the air was still fresh out there when the sun wasn’t shining.
What is really great about sunrises is that almost everyone on earth can get out and see them, they’re free and they're beautiful whether you’re out in the countryside or deep in the city. Set your alarm, get up and see this special but often missed time of the day. Remember You can’t lose.
