A Month in the Life… Morning Has Spoken

 

I never use an alarm clock.

My wake-up call comes early and naturally . . . from the first light of the sunrise, the aroma of fine coffee, the sounds of coyotes howling, or the “needs” of a dog or cat. The coffee maker is auto-set for 5:20am, and still sometimes, I have to start it manually because I haven’t slept “late” enough.

One of the many things I adore about my perch here atop the Sangre de Cristo mountains is that we are treated to double sunsets and sunrises. As if singles were not enough!!

In the top photo, we are looking East through a coyote fence, and if we turn our attention to the West . . . we get a whole other rendition.

This is because, with your face stuck up into the sky like this, there is nothing to block your view of how the sunrise reflects on any other clouds that happen to be up so early.

And then for a cup of that wonderful coffee (locally sourced from Rio Grande Roasters), and enhanced with my favorite morning thing . . .

OK, so it’s probably not good for me. It probably has chemicals and things, but I can’t see to read the label before I’ve had my coffee, so I’ll never know.

Besides, it makes me happy and I do know being happy is good for you.

I carry my mug of “Delightful” coffee into the office and sip at it while I check orders, email, blog comments, etc. . . .  until I see this . . .

This is a face that wants something, is it not? And who could say no to this face?

We walk our three Huskies every morning. They take turns because we walk them separately – partly for their benefit and partly for ours.

They all love their “special” time with Mom or Dad, of course, but there is also the fact that when you walk Siberians in a pack, they become a sled team.

They can’t help it – their instincts just kick in. So, because being a “sled” is not much fun, we walk them separately

This wonderful face belongs to Teddy. He is the Omega dog in our pack, and is used to waiting patiently for his turn. This is Teddy waiting patiently for his turn.

I can’t take it and must trade computer mouse for dog leash.

Now, I would love it if I could only show you the very best photographs that get taken around here (I usually do), but some things don’t lend themselves to a “best” photo. Like this one, which is blurry because it is a low light shot of some fast action – Teddy doing his happy dance at the front door because I have picked up his leash . . .

The big white bucket is full of birdseed. My wild birds are all out there waiting for something too, but Teddy is at least more important than they are in our pack.

And, we’re off . . . I wonder if Teddy has noticed that huge shadow wolf that is stalking him?

It’s not all that warm at this time of year, but the mornings are crisp and beautiful, and I am still wearing sandals. Nobody can believe it, but I am still wearing sandals. It’s usually 34º or so at this time of day. I am still wearing sandals. However, I feel shoes looming in the near future. Sigh.

This next photo contains all the colors of the wonderful Southwest palette.

In fact, download it and use an eyedropper tool to choose colors if you want to do a painting with a Southwestern feel.

New Mexico has a few national labs and Air Force bases, so contrails are a common component of our sky art . . .

There are some folks who think contrails are not good for us, but I think they’re cool. Well, actually, they ARE cool. It’s the water vapor from aircraft engines freezing into ice crystals that forms them.

Oh oh, I think Teddy has noticed the big bad shadow wolf . . .

But he knows shadow Mom will protect him if it comes to that.

By the time we get home, my nose and my toes are froze . . . and are protesting that this walking thing can’t be THAT good for me!

And, there is a reward waiting – a breakfast topped with roast chicken for Teddy – and another hot cup of “Delight” for me (not topped with roast chicken).

Thank you for sharing my morning.

See you tomorrow.