sunrise

sun·rise:  \ˈsən-ˌrīz\ 

~ noun:  1) the rise or ascent of the sun above the horizon in the morning; 2) the opening or beginning stage of any period.  synonyms:  dawn, daybreak ~

 my husband and i have the luxury of being mobile employees for our respective companies.  so, we trade off mornings getting up with little bogue, who usually gets up around 7:30 a.m. to 7:45 a.m.

one day last week, he decided to get up at 6:45 a.m.

on my day.

of course.

i slithered out of bed.  brushed my teeth.  threw on a sweatshirt and my fuzzy slippers.  splashed some cold water on my face.  tried desperately to make sense of what was going on.

then i looked outside.

still dark.

after a large sigh and a wistful glance at the bed, i headed to spring the little brown dog from his crate.

i grabbed a cup of coffee (hooray for programmable coffee makers).  i flipped on the deck light and out we went for a potty trip.  as a blaze of brown fur came darting by me, i sat down on the top of the stairs which head down into our back yard.

a flight of stairs which just so happens to face east.

i don't remember the last time i saw the sunrise....

...and it was beautiful.

the colors were soft and muted.  almost as if they didn't want to jolt you into your day.  instead, they wanted to whisper of the possibilities that the new day holds.

bogue came bounding up the stairs and jumped in my lap with a tennis ball.

here is where i would usually pat his head, then rush in the house to check my blackberry or my email.

not today.

all the so-called-important stuff could wait.

today, we were watching the sunrise together.   

because, this?  this moment right here?  i can't get this moment back.

and in 6 months?  4 years?  15 years?

i'll want it back.

i tossed the tennis ball.  he looked at me inquistively for about 10 seconds, looking at me like, "really mom?  you mean it??"

then, he leapt off the top step, clearing the remaining four.

he ran, grabbed the tennis ball, and came running back up the stairs at full speed and jumped into my lap, tail wagging.

the first thing i thought was how this was the cutest puppy ever.

then, i looked at the sun peaking over the horizon.

i realized how quiet it was.

when i tossed the tennis ball again and saw bogue leap into the dawn of a new day, that's when i knew for sure.

this is the important stuff.

every day's a holiday (with a sunrise),