There was a golden fire lighting up our eastern horizon this morning. A fiery sunrise under a thick cloud cover bathed the world in warm yellow.
The glass feature on my office building is full east and the light reflected in the window panes and made it look like the building was on fire.
Even though I live in a big city, my drive to work takes me past horse pastures and crop fields, sheep pens and moto cross tracks. When I turned my car in towards the city again the buildings were all gilded and every window looked back at me, reflecting light.
We're in the middle of October, hurtling the year into November and the holiday season. There aren't many of these sunrises left this year. Not as I drive to work. In a few weeks time we'll change the clock. Time will Fall back. Mornings will be light an extra week but then the Earth's axis will have made its tilt and we're plunged into the winter darkness that is our trademark.
Sunrise will be only after I arrive at the office. Sleepy children in my car, not quite woken up before the daycare and school drop off.
Sunset will creep into the early evenings, slowly at first, then late afternoon and finally the sun will set some time after 3 pm and just like I drive to work in the dark I will leave in the dark. Light is for the few hours inbetween when we are ensconced inside.
It's so ordinary for me by now, and so miraculous at the same time.
We'll suffer this until Christmas when we celebrate not only a less and less meaningful Christian holiday but the turn of the year. The return of light. The winter solstice will be the season's last desperate stand before the Earth's axis inevitably makes another tilt and we face the sun once more.
But for now I will have to say my goodbyes to the light.
