I love the time of day when day becomes night. Whether you call it twilight, dusk, sunset, eventide, sundown, or my favorite, gloaming, to me it is a magical time of day. I think part of this stems from my childhood. I grew up waaaaaay out in the county and this was the time of day when my family slowed down and spent time together. After supper my mama and daddy would often sit outside, even in bad weather, on the back porch swing or in the front porch rockers and talk about the day. I didn't understand all those years ago what a precious gift it was to see my parents just sitting and enjoying each others company as they caught up on the events of their days.
I also think that another HUGE element of my love for the gloaming is that it is the part of the day where I truly begin to feel alive! Good things and good times were just around the corner. I have always been a night owl. Even as a small child, my parents could put me to bed at a childlike bedtime but I would lay there wide awake for hours. My parents rule was that I had to go to bed at bed time and couldn't do anything like read or write. I had to just lay there and stare at the darkness. As recently as just a few years ago I still was up until 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. most nights. Heck, I even had some friends who were also night owls that I hardly ever talked to before 11:00 p.m. The only time I saw a sunrise was if I hadn't been to bed yet from the night of fun! Unfortunately, events in my life have slowly but surely turned me into a creature of the day.
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| Stunning Sunset |
What is your favorite part of the day? Has that changed through the years or have you always felt that way?
I love the night. I loved the time in my life when I could stay up as late as I wanted and sleep late. Marriage and real life took care of that but, even now, it's hard to let the night go. Luckily The Guy doesn't require much sleep and we tend to go to bed about 11:30 to midnight on weeknights. He gets up at 6:15. I wake up then but I don't get up until about 45 minutes letter when he leaves. I do enjoy that first hour I'm up. After I make the bed and maybe up in a load of laundry, I drink coffee, do my devotional, pray, and read. A while back, I had to employ some self-discipline to keep that hour from drifting into all morning.
ReplyDeleteHubby and I are night owls too! We often don't go to bed until 11:30 or so on weeknights. He gets up around 6:45 or so. Like Jean, I lay in bed for another hour maybe before I get up. Sometimes I fall back asleep, and then I wake up late. I really don't care for that part, but it happens.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were first married, Hubby was in the military and was a shift worker. Since he was so young (read: low-ranking), he often worked the mid-shift. Later, it changed to swing shift, and since I worked retail, we seemed destined to have a swing shift life. I remember grilling at 3AM once, sigh.
These days, life is more normal, though we still stay up until midnight quite a lot!
Twilight is such a wonderful phase of the day. I love it, the sunsets, stunning sky and cool breeze. Indeed, it is the most relaxing part of our days, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteI'm usually awake until about 11 p.m. or so. Makes it harder to wake up in the morning, but there it is. And sometimes I get a brief boost of energy and I want to go write. I never act upon it, which is a shame. At night, when all is quiet, my mind really starts to jive. But it is the knowning that I'll never get up in time for work that keeps me from following my intuition.
Great post, Stephanie! I love it when we notice the simplest things in life. And when those wonderful, natural elements give us pause, it's a good thing. (cue Martha Stewart)
*knowing* not knowning. Grrr!
ReplyDeleteJean, our shared love of the night is probably yet one more reason we are such great friends!
ReplyDeleteLynn, I love the grilling at 3:00 a.m What a great memory that is!
Katherine, thanks! Wonderful nature, yep that's me!
I am not a night owl. I am one of those dreadful morning persons. LOL I like to sit on the back porch and watch the sunrise. Everything is new and the day holds such promise. I cannot stay up passed ten. What a wimp! ;)
ReplyDeleteAhh, you early birds! lol I have other friends who like the newness of a sunrise but like you they often miss the late night fun.
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