Whispers at First Light

the secrets of dawn

Often, we sleep or work through dawn, missing out on in this liminal space. It’s a precious time for stillness and presence. Dawn is a love letter to the day, inviting us to embrace and delight in its renewal.

In between night and day, there’s a world you don’t belong to but may be permitted to see.

Today I’m sharing a moment when joy came just before first light…

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My bare feet touch the bedside floor and I pad over to the window. I stare into the shadows. A shape passes. I strain my eyes and peer into the grey light. There he is. A young stag silently nibbling forbidden foliage on his way through the garden.

I hold my breath, should I share my sighting? But I hold back, knowing this is my moment and only mine. Head crowned with velvet antlers he seems to sense me but knows he is safe. Leaping across the dry-stone wall, the young buck saunters along the loch side and disappears into the bracken covered hills.

I’m sharing the hills, the sky, the sea and lochs with the animal kingdom along with the sun, the moon and the stars. Distractions of city life are stripped away and I may truly witness dawn to dusk.

I lean on the window ledge, accepting an invitation for stillness at this sacred time of the day.

Time is suspended. Dawn is deliciously solitary. A time to be present. Refreshed from sleep and free from the coming day, it’s too early to ‘do’ but exactly the right time to ‘be’.

I listen to the dawn chorus long before light arrives. It’s too dark to search for food, or to be spotted by predators, it’s a perfect time for the birds to sing.

Nocturnal beings are rounding up their activities and scuttling home before first light and nature’s day shift are preparing for sunrise. It’s a changing of the guard.

The black hills are silhouetted against rolling dark clouds, with shards of pale blue sky and a stripe of orange light, heralding the imminent arrival of the sun.

I move through the house to get a front row view. Standing on the doorstep, feeling the cool fresh air, accompanied by the orchestra of birds, I enjoy my solo moment of peace.

Dazzling white rays break through the sky, dispersing the clouds. The golden globe peeps over the horizon and rises as if taking a bow on the stage.

A moment of glory shines on a new day.

Baby bunnies are the first to appear on the lawn. From field to loch, geese and goslings begin their manoeuvres. Sheep seem slower, preferring to wait for warming sunbeams to cajole them into grazing.

And so a new day begins.

A rotation of the celestial sun.

A day to live, love, create and dream.

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I’ll Find You

Wake up!
You can’t ignore me.
I’m calling you…
towards the day.

Shining brightly—
I’ll lift your mood.
Let’s have some fun!

Shall we climb a mountain?
Jump in the sea?
Or smile at strangers and say,
“What a beautiful day.”

We take coffee outside,
picnic at lunch,
basking in the midday warmth.

We snooze together…
in hazy rays.
You feel my kisses
on your skin.

The day softens…
showering light everywhere.

Stories shared
with sundowner drinks.
My glimmering glow—
a deep, fiery red.

I slowly make my goodbyes,
painting the skies in blush and blue.
I whisper, goodnight.

Tomorrow…
I’ll find You.

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Back in the city, there’s no stag, but in the dark, I hear the blackbirds sing and I wait for the sun to find me.

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It’s not always easy to catch the dawn in a busy life, but perhaps tomorrow, if life allows, you’ll slip into the early-morning hush—a threshold to simply be—and watch the sun rise beside you, stretching, yawning, and ready to play.

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My photos are from Reiff Bay on the remote Rubha Mòr peninsula in Wester Ross, Scottish Highlands, northwest of Ullapool. A young stag visited at dusk so I was able to take a photo, he may or may not have been my dawn stag.