Dawn
Dawn sneaks up on you. I am awake before dawn most days during the winter months. All the windows are dark when I peer out to see if there is any sign of light yet. Sometimes I can not be quite sure. I stare into the darkness trying to decide if it is lighter than it was before. Frequently the answer is “No.” But I do not have time to stand at the window watching for the first signs of daylight. There are things that I must do. Children must be awakened, breakfast must be served. The next time I look out the window I can see that the world outside is lighter, dawn has arrived and I can see clearly.
This has been my experience over the past few days. Everything felt dark. I could not see my way clear to manage everything that was in front of me. Life felt like an unending stream of dirty dishes, important decisions to get right, dirty laundry, children to soothe, bathrooms to scrub, and closets to organize. All those spaces of time which I’d anticipated had filled up with mundane tasks. But I worked onward despite the bleakness. Then yesterday I looked around me and realized that dawn had arrived while I was busy. Things are better. The kids have begun to settle in. They don’t come crashing through the door all needing my immediate attention. The organization and scrubbing are starting to catch up with the accumulated mess. And best of all, I got out of my house to converse with wonderful people. Twice. Dawn has arrived.