Dawn

Rising with the sun.
Hear the morning’s sweet love song,
Wake and stretch, then pray.

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This is a page from COSMIC CHANTS

book by Paramahansa Yogananda

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Night Blooming Jasmine

Dog sleeps at my feet,
Dawn is yet hours away.
Fragrant night blooms.

⭐️🌿🌼🌿

⭐️

In the quiet of the night while the world sleeps
– so very peaceful.

⭐️🌿🌼🌿

⭐️

My mother, who had grown up in Northern Minnesota, loved many of the plants that grew well only in the more southern climes. One of those plants was the Night Blooming Jasmine. As a child, I would occasionally wake long before the dawn. It was a favorite time for me. To sit on the couch in the living room and just be. On a summer’s night with the window open – the aroma of Jasmine wafting in – This time is heaven in it’s quiet simplicity. The peace at this time was and continues to be a place where there is a recharging of life.
I now naturally wake long before the dawn. How fortunate I am to have fallen into this pattern early. Those who sleep until after the sun has risen – do not know what they are missing.

⭐️🌿🌼🌿

Spending the Morning with My Daddy

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Before light of day -

From hills above the city -

Listen for bird song.

   ⭐️ 

I wake before the birds most mornings. Pray, stretch, walk on the balcony and breathe in the coming dawn not yet visible. This coming day brings an intermittent wind and the chimes in the trees around the house call out.

Then with the dawn, birds call out in chorus: Wake Now. Wake Now. The time for sleep is past.

My favorite time of day.  My daddy would wake early and would be out of the house and off to work before anyone else woke – except sometime me.  As a little one, I so enjoyed the few quiet moments in the morning with my father.  After he was dressed and came in the front of the house, he would have his usual breakfast of 2 raw eggs in a glass of milk.  I would make a face when he would offer me the same breakfast.  We would share a few words, always pleasant. 

This morning I think about my Father.  How fortunate I was to be given as Father a good and gentle man.  He was a thoughtful man who spoke with me as an equal – he never spoke down to me.  He spoke with me and taught me to do more than look – but to truly see. He taught me to do more than hear – but truly listen.  We would discuss the questions of the universe. His simple country wisdom coupled with a discerning mind opened windows and doors to the world – indeed to universes.

Good Morning Daddy – as you travel among the stars – yet do I still feel your protective heart and hand this morning.  I am so fortunate. 

 ⭐️

Photo taken by Sarah Ortega of the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden.