I took the dogs out this morning when I could see the sunrise. This has become a good way to mark the mornings. I want to see the pinks and oranges as the sun rises as we walk towards it. This morning we bundled up and headed out just as I could see orange on the horizon. About once a week I take a turn to our favorite bakery to treat my partner to yummy pastry. This was a morning to do that. Instead of our usual right turn we head over our little bridge instead. It was icy and slick this morning and everything had frost on it. We carefully walked across the bridge and walked toward the bakery.

The pups did their business and I could safely go to the bakery without worrying about them being weird. This bakery allows the pups in too so I don’t have to leave them outside as I pick out our favorite buttery pastry treats. Plus the people who work there love to see them.

As I left the bakery I looked over my shoulder the opposite direction and there she was in full low hanging loveliness, the moon. She was headed back to bed for the day as the sun rose on the opposite side. She was also surrounded by pinks and glow. I walked towards the moon this morning instead of towards the sun. Of course, this picture does little justice to the beauty of the moon this morning.

Today is the sixth day of Christmas. We are still in the season of peace, love, hope and joy before the new year welcomes us in. So many of us have this fantastical notion that things will be better once we say goodbye to 2020. If only it were that simple. I read this morning that the strict lockdown here is most likely to be extended to the end of January. While vaccines are coming, they aren’t fast enough to welcome in a new year in the magical way we are holding on to but we logically all know this.

I have been fighting a two day migraine. Yesterday it came on strong and holds on this morning. A gift of my late 30s. I had headaches before but the migraine is a whole new level of paying attention and slowing down. It causes me to react differently and tend to my body differently. It is closely linked to monthly cycles, much like the moon. It causes me to reassign tasks and sleep to allow darkness to take over for a bit. The migraine is light sensitive and demands attention. And it doesn’t just go away. It takes time.

All of this to say that it all will take time….the season, this season of our lives, the year to pass and the new one won’t magically make it all go away. We have to pay attention to ourselves and the world in order to all be in this together.

I saw the moon and the moon saw me. God bless the moon and God bless me!