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Quote of the Day: Laura Ingals Wilder

October 27th, 2013

In the mornings they ran through the dewy chill grass that wet their feet and dabbled the hems of their dresses. They liked to watch the sun rise over the edge of the world.

First everything was gray and still. The sky was gray, the grass was gray with dew, the light was gray and the wind held its breath.

Then sharp streaks of green came into the eastern sky. If there was a little cloud, it turned pink. Laura and Mary sat on the damp, cold rock hugging their chilly legs. They rest their chins on their knees and watched, and in the grass below Jack sat, watching too. But they never could see when the sky first began to be pink.

They sky was very faintly pink, then it was pinker. The color went higher up the sky. It grew brighter and deeper. It blazed like fire, and suddenly the little cloud was glittering gold. In the center of the blazing color, on the flat edge of the earth, a tiny sliver of sun appeared. It was a short streak of white fire, Suddenly the whole sun bounded up, round and huge, far bigger than the ordinary sun and throbbing with so much light that it’s roundness almost burst.

-Laura Ingals Wilder (On the Banks of Plum Creek (Little House))

This time of the year I start to notice the sunrises more and more. Perhaps it’s because they’re a littler later and I see them more often. Maybe it’s the fact that the leaves are falling off the trees and I can actually see them.  This is the view from my upstairs window.
sunrise (1)
Regardless, I’m loving the sunrises these days. There’s no better way to start the day than by watching the sun rise!

Do you get to enjoy the sunrise from your house?

19 Comments to “Quote of the Day: Laura Ingals Wilder”
  1. Lemongrass on October 27, 2013 at 5:20 am

    It is one of the reasons that I wake up……….to enjoy the sunrise. I enjoy the early lights through the mango, banana and coconut leaves. Some of that early morning light splashes itself through my kitchen window.
    For the past few days I wake up to the gentle sound of rain. The sun show on around 9:00 in the morning.
    Sunrise is my morning pill.

    Reply to Lemongrass's comment

  2. Marina C on October 27, 2013 at 6:20 am

    Sunrise comes from over the top of the hill into the orchard. It is so beautiful to see, especially when the grass is wet with dew.
    It’s a gift for early risers!

    Reply to Marina C's comment

  3. Nebraska Dave on October 27, 2013 at 8:20 am

    Susy, my residence is in the urban city facing south surrounded by houses and fifty year old trees. Now with fall in the air the leaves are golden brown but still hanging on the trees. There’s no chance of watching a sun rise. However, at Terra Nova Gardens, the East view has a clear shot all the way to the horizon. Last year I had to haul water to the garden but it needed to be done before my daughter went to work at 8:30am so at 5am, I was scampering down the road to the garden while streaks of light began to spike up over the skyline. Many times I would stop the watering process to watch the rising sun. Even better was witnessing the world waking up. Birds chirping, squirrels rustling about, and turkeys coming for their morning drink at my watering hole. It’s my favorite part of the day as well.

    Have a great morning sunrise day.

    Reply to Nebraska Dave's comment

  4. Joan on October 27, 2013 at 8:26 am

    I love the sunrise. When we bought the house we are now in I tried so hard to find a way to have our bedroom face east, but the only room we could use wouldn’t fit a full sized bed, much less our king sized one (even if we removed a wall!). So, we have a west facing bedroom, and when the sun sets late in the early summer, we can go to bed early and watch the sun set. It’s not the same, but I’m often up before sunrise anyway, and so get to see it rising across the fields.

    Reply to Joan's comment

  5. Mich on October 27, 2013 at 8:46 am

    Yes my kitchen faces east and luckily I am surrounded by farm land so it’s a great view as I watch the sunrise :) Currently battening down the hatches as we are due a mother of a storm through tonight… Dreading it.

    Reply to Mich's comment

  6. Jennifer Fisk on October 27, 2013 at 9:33 am

    Sunrise is especially welcome this time of year since it is dark when I get up. Now, with the leaves off, I have a distant view of Sargent Mt. and the sun. With each passing day the sun resides lower in the sky and sets earlier. Soon the filtered daylight will be very few precious hours long until one day we see a later sunset usually in early Feb.

    Reply to Jennifer Fisk's comment

  7. DebbieB on October 27, 2013 at 10:14 am

    No, my house faces south, and we’re in a closely packed subdivision, so the windows on my east side (bedrooms, bathroom) are blocked by the neighbor’s house and trees. Years ago, before hurricane Katrina, I used to run in the local park near my home in the mornings before work, and I’d watch the sunrise as I was going around the running path. It was magical. The storm changed our neighborhood demographics drastically, though, making it unsafe to run in the park alone before full daylight, so I got out of that habit, and now that I’m retired, the sun usually gets up a little while before I do. Daylight saving time change (GRRRR – I hate it) will change that, I suppose – but there’s still no good place to see the sun rise (or set) from here.

    Reply to DebbieB's comment

  8. Darah on October 27, 2013 at 10:42 am

    From the autumnal equinox to the spring — almost to the day, it’s crazy — is the only time I can see the sunrise from my kitchen. And then the next few hours are the only ones that we get sun through those windows. Which is nice in the summer, but it is one of the things I look most forward to every year. And on a cold January morning that sun on the hardwood floor is such a welcome sight as I make breakfast!

    Reply to Darah's comment

  9. Karla on October 27, 2013 at 12:52 pm

    I’m usually up before sunrise, and this morning the sunrise was accompanied by several minutes of birds flying south past my window – there must have been hundreds of them. (They were approximately robin-sized birds, but I couldn’t tell what they were from the shapes of their silhouettes.)

    Reply to Karla's comment

    • Trish on October 27, 2013 at 5:29 pm

      what part of the country do u live in Karla? I am in the lower Midwest – this time of year several species of blackbirds will hang out together in large flock. I love seeing them. They fly by my house like that a few times a week, on their way to their evening roost, and then in the morning when they start their search for food.

      Reply to Trish's comment

  10. Mrs. H on October 27, 2013 at 12:57 pm

    What a lovely view you have!

    If we walk two minutes from our current Michigan abode, there is a bench that we can sit on to watch the sun rise over the river we live by.

    Until last year I lived in Kansas. The sunrises and sunsets are so much more beautiful down south than up here. I miss the vivid shows.

    Reply to Mrs. H's comment

  11. KimH on October 27, 2013 at 2:38 pm

    That is a beautiful view..

    The Little House series was my favorite book series when I was a kid.. I bought the set last year intending to give it to a Sorta-Grand but decided to keep them instead.. haha.. I got the Little House Cook Book too..

    No beautiful views from my house.. just other ugly houses.. up & down the street.. Occasionally we have deer in the neighbors yard and thats not that beautiful either.. ;)

    My mom lives on one of the highest hills in her area & you can see up to 80 miles on a good day.. I lived across the road from her for years and it was one of the most gorgeous places to live.. Hope to be able to Winter there yearly someday.. maybe. ;)

    Reply to KimH's comment

  12. Colleen on October 27, 2013 at 3:15 pm

    Your sunrise view is beautiful. Such a peaceful way to start the day.

    Yes, we are really spoiled and blessed. The kitchen window faces east and the sun rises over top of the mountain and water. The sun sets out the front windows over the water and islands.

    Reply to Colleen's comment

  13. Sam on October 27, 2013 at 4:51 pm

    We get to see slivers of it through the tall pines in our neighborhood, though not like your view! Wow, Susy! That’s worth all of your “long suffering” with your house! ;o) Beautiful!

    Reply to Sam's comment

  14. Lexa on October 27, 2013 at 5:13 pm

    I am so NOT a morning person, so I only get to enjoy the beauty of sunrises two times a year – right now is one of them. The sun is just coming up sometime between jumping in the tub and breakfast! What an amazing view you have from your bedroom window. Thanks for sharing.

    And I LOVED the Laura Ingalls Wilder quote. I was introduced to those books as a child and they still hold a special place in my heart. SO fun to re-read year after year.

    Reply to Lexa's comment

  15. Trish on October 27, 2013 at 5:32 pm

    I was thinking the same about the sunrise – I get to see it oftener these days because it is later. I have a great 360 degree view of the world – sunrise, sunset – and moon rise are all things I have the good fortune to watch. I sometimes think of that exact passage from Laura Ingalls wilder’s books, which I think I have memorized. The sunrise takes a surprisingly long time to happen, and mostly I lack the patience to see the whole thing thru.

    Reply to Trish's comment

  16. amy on October 28, 2013 at 11:03 am

    I am a night owl and so I appreciate the sunsets…..but when we are on vacation for some reason I am up at the crack of dawn and sunrises over the ocean are just spectacular.
    Isn’t it interesting that what we first start reading and identifying with as a child….oftentimes…. shapes our lives forevermore. As I have mentioned on here before the Little House books were my all time favorite reads as a little girl…I still read them all….. beginning in the Autumn every year.

    Reply to amy's comment

  17. Sierra N Hampl on October 30, 2013 at 5:24 pm

    That is a beautiful view from your window!

    Reply to Sierra N Hampl's comment

  18. Charlie@Seattle Trekker on October 30, 2013 at 11:47 pm

    Beautiful prose and a very wonderful photo.

    Reply to Charlie@Seattle Trekker's comment

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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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