rise and shine

I am not a morning person. I participated in new department-wide trainings at my new job for about two weeks this month. Although the trainings aren't really related to what I do personally, it's all good information to know about how the majority of the rest of this unit works. However, the trainings were from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., which really took a huge chunk out of my days already over scheduled with projects. And the 8:00 a.m. start time is really early for me considering the new commute and my nocturnal nature. And as it's January, most mornings I would walk out of my house in the dark, or just as the dawn was breaking. (I am reminded of the Babylon 5 commander who was late for her shift and said, "I've always had trouble getting up when it's dark outside. "But in space, it's always dark outside." "I know.")

During the full moon, the dawn were pretty amazing, as the moon was low on the horizon to the west—the direction of my walk—while the sun rose behind me in the east. On clear mornings, when the sunlight had not yet thrown a leg over the hills behind me, the sun would shine full force on the moon, and the moon shone back. The brightness of the full moon through the pastels of the dawn over the park and the ocean was a surprise treat making the early rise much more enjoyable. Sadly, phone photos don't do it justice.