Pat Bean's blog

 A Texas Sunrise: From Birth to Teenager  

In baby breaths of pink and blue, the sun began its Texas day. -- Photo by Pat Bean

“Now is the time of the great fall migrations, and in truth the whole world seems built for birds on the wing. … For some birds, that translocation may be nothing more than a move from New Jersey to Georgia. For others … migration means flying from as far north as the Arctic circle to the tip of Argentina, roughly 10,000 miles away.” – Natalie Angier, “Songs and Sojourns of the Season

Travels With Maggie

I acted like a bird deciding that one particular minute when it takes to the air for its twice-annual migration.

Now showing off like an energetic teenager, the sun continues its path upwards into a Texas sky. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I was on the road before dawn, heading east from El Paso, where my 300-mile journey from Tucson had taken me the day before, facing yet another 300-mile drive this day.

It was early enough when I drove away from the Mission RV Park that I had left the city lights behind me in time to catch that magical gray moment of the day when the world takes a second’s pause before beginning to turn on the light.

It had been awhile since I had seen this awesome start of the day, and its quiet power impaled my soul deeply.

A little farther down the road and the sun begin to make its arrival known in baby breaths of pink and blue. I stopped and tried to capture the birth with my camera.

I stopped again a short time later to take a photo of the sun’s teenage yea’s, the period of its daily growth when it is full of blazing energy and dazzling confusion.

This was my first Texas sunrise since April, and I couldn’t have asked for a better one. .

My planned 300-mile drive, meanwhile, turned to 600. I was that eager to feel the arms of my Texas loved ones around me once again.