Perhaps the reason that my body wakes me so early in these mornings is that my spirit knows it needs significant time in each day when no one needs me, and the quiet pre-dawn moments are some of the only time I will get when I am as utterly alone as I can be in these days, when I wear–like ornaments on my psyche–small children, a cat, a few dozen teenagers, papers that need grading, vines that need trimming, corners that need vaccuuming.  When it is just me and the dawn chorus, I am the one who gets to need, to seek, to demand attention.  I am grateful for the clamor of the community that surrounds me, all the voices, all the reminders that my role in the world is interwoven with others, but I am also grateful for the balance of occasional solitude.  I have planned my silent retreat for mid-June, and I am anticipating it almost as much as if I were going abroad.

Gratitude List:
1. Stories
2. Ritual
3. Temporality
4. Contemplation
5. Cool night air

May we walk in Beauty!