The Early Bird

Last Saturday, I was woken up by the big dogs barking their proverbial heads off. Checking my watch, I was somewhat peed-off to find that it was 5:15AM and, as a bonus, still dark outside.

So, off I trudged downstairs, through the house and, once I'd fumbled with the locks a bit, out the back door. Flicked on the security light and, naturally enough, there's no sign of any living thing, just 2 large hairy dogs looking awfy pleased with themselves. Could've been a stray dog at the back gate or maybe the wee hedgehog that was spotted earlier in the week, taking a short cut through the garden. Who knows? "What the f**k are you barking at?" only led to more tail wagging.

Being wide-awake by now, I let the dogs out and it was then I noticed how utterly still the world was. The pre-dawn sky was a beautiful blue-black and there, over to the East, was Venus. It was, quite simply, the most breathtakingly beautiful thing I'd see in a long time. I stood there for ages, just staring at it, completely transfixed. At one point I nipped in to get the camera but, without a tripod, I'd no chance of getting a decent photie. I tried tho'.

Looking East, the wee white splodge near the middle is Venus.

Eventually, I wandered back inside for a coffee. Less than 2 hours later, this happened;

The camera, and my photographic skills, can't do it justice but it was simply stunning. And the colours changed from minute to minute. I lost track of how long I was out there but it was a long while. It's one of the many reasons I love living where we do; the views can be out of this world.
I'd forgotten how much I liked being up at such an early hour. I really need to do it more often.