There’s a specialness about the the hour around 4.30 on a May morning in Ireland~ a specialness that I don’t often experience as it is usually my sleeping time.
I’ve no idea what woke me but I knew that sleep had gone out for a while. Natural instinct brings me down to the kitchen, where puppy Stan stirs and looks up at me from the softness of his bed under the table.
Flick the switch on the kettle, pick out my mug with the abstract little red birds sitting on a branch, like a choir getting organised.
I don’t know what it is about the pouring of tea from pot to mug but it is one of the most comforting sounds in the world. As I creep back upstairs, cradling the hot mug, my mind wanders to Sean Dunne’s poem ‘The Art of Tea’ in his wonderful collection with the cup and saucer on the cover. These are the lines that resonate as I take the first few sips of the black unsweetened tea:
Drink and feel the soul flood.
It’s pitch dark outside and a sea mist seems to be enveloping Tramore but I can hear the cheerful chirping of the birds in the monkey puzzle tree which stands tall just outside my blinded window.
And to think I miss this precious time practically every day of my life.
SOCIAL BRIDGE ~ Jean Tubridy connecting with you from Ireland 
I get that. I’m not a morning person but when I do wake in the early morning hours I say to myself, oh why can’t you be a morning person! It is the most beautiful part of the day! Thanks for sharing yours.
Hello Greyzoned, thanks for writing. It is pretty amazing alright. Hope I can make a bit of a habit of it!
Well I will say you’ve given me incentive to get up as soon as my eyes open tomorrow and not just roll over and go back to sleep like I usually do! Thanks for that!
My pleasure! I hope it works out well for you and that the birds sing.
I think what makes it all the more wonderful is because it IS a rare experience! You can easily be blasé about something you do/see every day….
Hi Dale, I suspect there’s a lot in what you say but it sure was special! Went for a 2.5 hr walk down the beach after I wrote and that was wonderful too. Rather tired now!!!
Nice! A “good” tired is what I hope you felt!
Absolutely!
But you would be so tired if you didn’t!
There is something special about the break of a new day. When in Dublin I used to get my runs in before work and it was wonderful watching the city slowly wake up as I trotted along. The sun coming up over the Irish sea, the coffee vendors setting up to catch the early commuters (and Roma beggars doing likewise), shutters going up etc. New day, new aspirations.
Absolutely, Roy! Many’s the dawn I walked ‘home’ in Dublin after a long night and saw those sights. I wonder did we pass each other or would we have felt like people from different planets and time zones!
Definitely something extra special about the crack of dawn! 🙂 ❤ ❤
Absolutely!