Sunrise: a new beginning

For the past few days, K and I have enjoyed our morning strolls at dawn. We start in the dark and hustle up to the high plateau to see the sunrise. Yesterday, the sunrise show awed me. We ascended onto the plateau just before the sun crested nearby hills.

We both watched from the darkness as the sun transformed our world.

The clouds glowed from below just before the sun rays touched our faces.

Just after sunrise, the sun cast a purple and red hue on the entire world. It was an instant of grace when time stopped and my heart soared. K's fur glowed red in the sunrise palette.

The moon hung over our heads for the entire sunrise.

It's difficult to believe the the color of K is real in the photo below but it is. The sunrise colors mixed with her chocolate fur created an incredible glow.

Just a few minutes later, I looked to the west as the show ended. I'd missed getting any photos of the Continental Divide bathed in the rising sun. Just a touch of gold remained in the clouds.

Later in the day, our whole family went for a trail walk. K taught the boys how to scramble on the boulders and pose for photos. I had to laugh when the boys called me over, already posed and asking me to take "a photo for the blog"!

During this sojourn with my family, I've realized how thankful I am for so many gifts in my life. Of course, the Duo sits near the top of the list. Walking through the forest each morning with K feels like a stolen moment - or a gift. So far, we've cheated the worst case scenarios, and my girl can hike by my side again. She's reached that age where we have an easy-going partnership, requiring few words. We ramble along, knowing how lucky we are to be together.

I think that I'll be wishing upon the full moon every month - at least until we know that K is completely out of the woods.

I hope that you all have a happy holiday and have many gifts to be thankful for in your lives. I am thankful to have all of you as part of our blogosphere!