A Stroll at Dawn

Okay, so yesterday, I posted a blog entry about a pleasant evening hike with my son on Thursday evening at Pyramid Mountain.

Today, I will write about another walk, one that just happened.

Earlier this morning, I woke up at around 5:30am, and just was not able to get back to sleep. It was a bit strange, because frankly, I felt exhausted still. Physically and mentally, just spent. Having worked two full shifts at the two jobs yesterday, fatigue still plagued me.

And yet, sleep did not come. I knew it was hopeless to think that it would, and it was so dark, it felt like it could have been two or three hours earlier than it was. That is one of the things about the shortening days - before long, it is either getting dark significantly earlier than you expect during the evenings, or it is staying dark much later than you expect in the mornings.

Here, it was clearly darker than expected at this hour. After all, I work the overnight shifts, and perhaps I just did not notice that it was still completely dark at around 5:30am or so, still. Just a few weeks ago, it was pretty much light out at around that time.

Also, the unusually warm weather that we have experienced seems to finally be dissipating, and once again, it feels like autumn. It felt almost like autumn at points during the summer, especially during August, which I believe was locally one of the coolest Augusts on record. 

Now, after a surprisingly warm spell in mid- to late September, it had finally cooled down significantly. The days are still mostly warm, but there is a chill to the evenings and early mornings that feels more like trademark autumn evenings. That is what I walked out into this morning, when I decided to go ahead and make good use of the time that I could not sleep.

It was incredibly quiet, almost like you never experience in suburban New Jersey. So quiet, in fact, that I could hear the cock a doodle doo of the rooster maybe half a mile or so away, from one of the few surviving farms in town. 

I found myself drawn to it, and soon was walking in that direction, still mostly in the dark, although there was a ribbon of light to the east. Dawn was coming - in fact, it was already here - but it was that strange time before the day destroyed this night, as Jim Morrison once sang about. The stars were both plentiful and clear to see, which is also somewhat unusual for suburban New Jersey, and hearing the rooster off in the distance, but getting louder the nearer I got?

Well, that just felt amazing! I always like being up and active before it gets fully light out, and I especially always enjoyed the chill of early morning. Not mind-numbing cold, mind you, like during the winter, when it is actively unpleasant to be out. Just a bit of a chill, cool enough so that you feel that each breath is refreshing, and you feel it just a bit on your arms and legs and face. Yet, I was not cold, and it felt great to be out!

For a little while, I slowed down and even stopped on the road by the nearest point that I could get to the farm. The farm is set quite far away from the road, which is actually nice. But even then, the shape of the farm house, and the grain silo, could easily be made out, even though it was still largely dark out. Plus, the roosters were coming in very loud and clear here, which was nice. So, it seemed the only thing to do was to take a minute or so to stand and appreciate it.

As it turns out, what was supposed to be a relatively leisurely stroll wound up being actually a four or five mile walk, or so. It was on flat ground, granted, yet it still felt like I had done something and healthy right from the start to begin the new day. As I mentioned earlier, this is something that is especially to my liking, when this kind of thing happens before it fully gets light, or shortly thereafter. It just feels like you have already done something good, and you have the rest of the day to add to it. That is a good feeling.

It was a good long walk, although there were some opportunities to stop and take in the view. It was early morning throughout, and one thing that should be immediately apparent upon looking at these pictures is that the morning progressed and got lighter and lighter throughout the walk. By the time it ended, it was full on daylight, and there were a few people here and there on the streets, walking around, or jogging. Even one guy riding a bike. Earlier, when it was still dark, it felt surprisingly quiet. Yes, I know that it was the predawn hours on a weekend morning, but still, it felt very strange to see the streets and sidewalks of this town quite that quiet. By the time that the walk was wrapping up, though, there was some evidence of life, and plenty of cars driving around by then. Clearly, the town had awakened.

Below are some of the pictures that I took along the way. These were the nicer ones, more or less, and so it seemed like a good idea to share them here: