Good Morning

I know things have been slow around here.  The last two weeks have been a whirlwind!  First of all my daughter needed a  minor surgery.  Which meant I was on  full time nurse recovery mode when we got home.  I don't know how many times I ran up and down the stairs to get her something and check on her.  But my quads are stronger for it.  We also took a short family trip to Billings, Montana to a pastoring conference for my husbands work.  It was a blast, but traveling with four little ones takes a lot of work.  I did have a moment of complete rest on the morning we left for our trip.  As we drove past The Ranch this amazing sunrise began to appear.

I've posted many pictures of sunrises here and blogged about how much I love and miss them.  This one sang to my soul and made the world right for a moment.  My husband and I just drank it up.  And I was kicking myself because I hadn't brought along my good camera!

Take a deep breath and rest for one minute.  Nothing like a sunrise to clear your mind.

Missing the Sunrise

Last year when we lived on the ranch there were many things that I didn't care for this time of year.  For instance, feeding livestock in twenty degrees below zero weather.  Or having to open three gates just to get out of our "driveway".  But one thing that I greatly miss are the sunrises.

Our old ranch house faced east & every morning a beautiful sunrise would pop over the mountains.  This always made getting my day started a little bit easier.

Now I live in the mountains close to town.  We do not have sunrises.  It just starts to get brighter & around noon  the sun is visible.

And while I feel extremely blessed to have our new home, I miss my dose of morning sunrise.

Something about a sunrise give you a feeling of newness.  & you think "Yeah, this is a new day.  Come on, let's get going!"

A sunrise will put you beyond yourself & make you think about how big, beautiful, & amazing this world is, & how wonderful of a Creator we have.  It will ground you & make you think about what's important.

A sunrise will stop you in your tracks & make you take a big deep breath & enjoy life.   I miss my sunrises.

Which is why I have one of these photos as my desktop image.  My computer is right by the kitchen, the room where I start my day by feeding, fixing my kiddos hair & getting them ready for school.  So I see it first thing in the morning, gives my day a jump start.  Feel free to grab one of these photos & do the same.  It will make your morning brighter.

Spring Mornings on the Ranch

Although, winter is taking it's own sweet time to leave (in fact it snowed again last night).  There are still signs that spring is here, or at least trying to get here.  Much of this evidence occurs in the early morning hours.

First the sunrises are filled with warmer colors than they are in the winter.  (Art 101: warm colors= red, yellow, orange.  cool colors= blue, purple, green.)  And they happen earlier & more quickly, way to go Spring!

See what I mean?  This is a winter sunrise, there is a lot more blue & purple in the skies.

And this is a Spring sunrise, much more yellow & orange.  Do you see it?  Or do I have cabin fever?  I've been on this land my whole life, so I notice the little changes here... or I'm totally losing it... it's a toss-up.

Despite the falling snow, I also know it's Spring because our friends the turkeys are back.  They showed up last night looking for grain, a sure sign that it's Spring... or I'm totally losing it... still a toss-up.

Also, the birds are chirping in the morning.  I love it when the little song birds return to sing me awake in the early hours.  I set out bird feeders & watch them flutter around all day nibbling on seed & chasing each other. Not to mention the Robins have arrived, which means there's no going back to winter... I hope!

Once a Buttercup pops through the earth I will dance for joy.  For then I know warm weather is truly on it's way.  But for now I'm content for the small changes that are assuring of a new season. 

More Sunrise, Moonset

I know I've already done a post with this theme, but it happened again this morning.  And of course I had to capture it on film.  It's just so rare & such a short time of the year that one gets to experience this.  So I had to share it with you.  As always I looked out my front door & saw this.

And then I looked behind the house & saw this.  I did not Photoshop these at all, they are straight from the camera.  So beautiful, God did a pretty good job creating this world.  Photographing the moon is a challenge.  I need to get better at it.  Love to hear your tips on moon photography if you got 'em?

I'll be posting a few more things today, but thought I'd get this to ya' first thing.