Good Morning

How are you this morning?  I'm well and enjoying the beauty that comes with a blue-sky December day. 

We're enjoying fine weather here; a ridge of high pressure has brought us several clear sunny days, unusual in this part of the world at this time of year.  The lack of clouds allows night time temperatures to drop below freezing and, because the days are still quite mild (9 to 10 C/38-40 F), the ground is warmer than the sky during the dark hours of the night.  This inversion gives rise to thick fogs that shroud the landscape and fur onto rooftops, fences, branches, and grass as thick, iridescent frost.  

In the morning  I can sit in my favourite corner of the couch and enjoy the transition from foggy night to clear skied morning as it unfolds outside my windows.  Before the sun rises, but as the sky is lightening, the sky turns ceruleaan blue.  There's still enough darkness for the street lights to shine, creating a beautiful contrast where they cast their orange light. I see this through the lacy silhouette of the walnut tree beside my balcony.  Traffic lights add to the picture, transitioning through green, yellow, and red as regularly as clockwork.

As the sun appears above the edge of the hills encircling our valley, the fog retreats to the shelter of the trees and swirls in the air above the river winding through the park at the end of my street.  It changes colour as it goes, from white, to soft grey, to the palest of lavenders before it blushes to shell pink and then wafts away for another day.

The lightening of the sky is accompanied by an increase in traffic on the busy streets below my corner apartment.  The sound of engines and the occasional honking of horns mingle with the conversation and laughter of children walking past, on their way to school.  The change encourages me to stir myself too.  I dress for the day and prepare for my morning walk.  I'm looking forward to enjoying the brisk air today, and to seeing frost crystals twinkling in the gardens along my route.

Wherever this morning finds you, and whatever the weather may bring your way, I wish you a heart filled with happiness this Thankful Thursday.  Have a joyful day.