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Quote of the Day: Michael Perry

November 4th, 2012

Downstairs, and out the door. Eastward the gray band is lightening, but the sun remains well sunk. Drawing the cool breath of morning into my lungs I think of my father, whom I do not believe has missed a sunrise in some forty years and would be startled to find me up and about at this hour. I still love the dark heart of night when it is possible to believe you the world to yourself, but I can understand why Dad loves to watch the day come in. And I find I am a little less breathless working from this end of the cycle than I am trying to find my way through some some of bleary-eyed finish at 3:00 a.m. There is the idea that you have a head start.

Michael Perry, Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting

One of the lovely featurs this about this place is that we can see the sunrise from the living room and I can watch the sunset from my desk in the office. Back in Ohio, we couldn’t really see the sunrise, I’m certainly enjoying it every morning now!

A head start, that’s exactly how I feel when I get up early. Especially this time of year when getting up early means being up before the sun comes up. There’s something wonderfully peaceful and quiet about being up before the sun, it is a lot like getting a head start. A perfectly wonderful way to start my day!

Can you see the sunrise from you house?

11 Comments to “Quote of the Day: Michael Perry”
  1. Marina C on November 4, 2012 at 5:12 am

    Not like you two can!
    But, yes, we see it come over the hill, and it sends rays through the tall trees to our bedroom, then it lights up the lawn and makes it a beautiful intense pale green, then it’s over, and the sun is just up.
    How beautiful it is where you live now!
    How are ‘les canetons’ doing, by the way?

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  2. Maybelline on November 4, 2012 at 6:53 am

    Sunrise over the Sierra Nevadas can be seen from my garden each day.

    Reply to Maybelline's comment

  3. jennifer fisk on November 4, 2012 at 7:31 am

    When the leaves are off the trees, I can see the sun coming up over Sargent Mtn. It isn’t spectacular but better than I had before cutting some trees.

    Reply to jennifer fisk's comment

  4. KimH on November 4, 2012 at 11:34 am

    nope…

    Reply to KimH's comment

  5. whit on November 4, 2012 at 12:32 pm

    The house we lived in before in the city, we could see both. Sunrise over the Cascades is gorgeous! Our farm now is nestled at the foot of a small hill covered with Doug Fir, so sunset is slightly delayed from our porch. But from the house and the back of the property, we can see the pink light of sunrise and sunset reflecting off of Mt. Rainier to the south. Priceless!

    Your view you have now is a lot like our old view. There is such a feeling that comes from being perched on a hillside like that. Half way to Heaven it feels like. ;)

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  6. Melanie G on November 4, 2012 at 1:05 pm

    From our front windows, we can see the sunrise and from the back windows, the sunset. I *love* it, especially since our previous apartment was in the heart of a city surrounded by taller buildings that totally obscured any sunshine. I especially enjoy sitting in my little nook in the morning, in my grandmother’s rocking chair, with a cup of tea, watching the day begin. I quite agree – a lovely way to start the day!

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  7. kristin @ going country on November 4, 2012 at 1:52 pm

    Nope. We can, however, see the sunset across the lake, especially in the winter when the leaves are off the trees.

    Assuming I’m anywhere near a window and not distracted by screaming children to actually SEE the sunset. Doesn’t happen often.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

  8. amy on November 4, 2012 at 3:13 pm

    We see the sunrise every morning. Our house front faces east….and there are windows all along the front…..When we open the shutters in the morning the sun streams in and warms much of our house. Which is so pleasing to me in the winter as it takes off some of the burden of myself and the woodstove to provide heating for the whole house. My husband and I adore Michael Perry. We have read everything he has written including his latest “Visitng Tom….” A mighty fine writer in our opinion with much in common:)

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  9. Rebecca on November 4, 2012 at 3:20 pm

    sunrise and sunset. I much prefer living someplace where I can see them. Vermont vacations as a kid always felt strange – there just wasn’t enough sky.

    http://ghdhyh.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-like-posting-pictures-sunrise-jan-23.html

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  10. Eliza J on November 4, 2012 at 4:36 pm

    My favorite time of day is getting to see the sun rise…It’s not only beautiful from a visual perspective, but also quiet, wonderfully quiet, peacefully quiet…before EVERYONE ELSE is up. I am an early “bird” and I do my best work in the morning. Being able to see the sun rise up(and I do not get to see this every day) is a precious gift. I am aware of that when it happens and am very thankful to be part of it. I love early morning and sun rises :)

    Reply to Eliza J's comment

  11. Beth K on November 5, 2012 at 2:57 pm

    I grew up in a house on top of a hill. Out my bedroom window I could watch the sunset and through my sister’s window you could see the sunrise. I loved being able to see both sunrise and sunset. Now we live in a bottom and you can’t see either from the house. You can see some of the sunset if you walk out in our pasture in the evening and from our porch you can sometimes catch a little peek of the sunrise. My only consolation is that I often get to enjoy (and quite often photograph) the sunrise on my way to work in the mornings. I love watching the sky slowly awaken and change throughout the process. Your view is beautiful there! Thanks for sharing it and I look forward to many more photos of it as time goes on. :-)

    Reply to Beth K's comment

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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