I arose this morning a little after 5:00. The soft, warm golden glow from the street lamp flooded the living room. It provided plenty of light to see to flip the rocker switch on the small gas heater in the corner that would begin adding warmth to the room. I went to the kitchen and started the Keurig for my first cup of coffee.
Moments later I was warm and cozy in my favorite position on the end of the sofa with my current volume of Faulkner and first cup of coffee. Gazing out the south facing front windows there was pure blackness in the distance beyond the street lamp. I began reading but looked up frequently watching for that first faint light above the mountain.
It was between 6:35 and 6:40 before I could barely discern the sloping ridge of Bucky O’Neil Hill sloping downward from the top right corner of the window. The slope becomes a sheer dropoff at the edge of the Lavender Pit about half a mile from my vantage point. First light.
It was still over half an hour to official sunrise at 7:19 and shortly after that the north-facing slope of the hill will be be bathed in sunlight. The south-facing house at 226 Opera Dr. and all the east side of Brewery Gulch will remain in shade for another hour after that.
I have an ongoing Friday morning project to photograph the first actual rays of the sun as it peeks over “B” hill to the east. I began this project on 22 December, the day after the winter solstice and want to keep it going at least until the Summer solstice in order to record both the changing time and position of the sun as near to the precise instant it peaks over the ridge as possible. Once this project is far enough along I will present the photos in a photoessay.
Ain’t retirement great!
Forever Bisbee 