I love the early dawn.
The light that slowly creeps its way through the curtains at 5 a.m. in the summer, a little later in the fall and winter.
But it's there.
Letting everyone know that the day is arriving.
My body clock always seems to wake me around that time.
I imagine it has been the same for countless centuries, that man is awakened by the early dawn.
The birds are already awake, as they sing out their daily greetings.
I always enjoy that time of day.
The day before the fray.
In a previous career as a morning news anchor I awoke at 3:30 every morning.
I had to be at work by 5 a.m., just as the dawn was breaking.
It was a glorious time - driving through the sleepy streets which were surprisingly full of other drivers too.
Commuters perhaps who were on their way to the big city to their jobs.
I always noticed the lineups were long at the 24-hour drive-through coffee shops, even at that hour.
And I still sometimes awaken at 3:30.
It was a habit that became ingrained, no doubt with the help of two alarm clocks to make sure I didn't sleep in.
There is something about dawn, the prelude to the day, that holds so much promise, and so much hope.
When I had my hip replaced at a hospital in Toronto a few years back, I had to be at the hospital by 6 a.m.
And as we drove there, through the dawn, the city streets were already alive and teeming with workers cleaning them, preparing them, getting them ready for the day ahead.
The day before the fray.
The word dawn comes from an olde English verb meaning "to become the day."
And of course, science has given us several different types of dawn: astronomical dawn, when the sky is no longer completely dark; nautical dawn, so sailors can distinguish the horizon at sea; and civil dawn, for the rest of us.
It is during civil dawn that we can sometimes see the glorious colours in the sky of bronze, orange, pink and yellow - colours that are often believed to predict the day (red sky in the morning, sailors' warning!).
And it is during civil dawn that we can often see bright stars and planets such as Jupiter and Venus.
An amazing time of day.
Many cultures have been so inspired they have associated various goddesses with the dawn.
In many religions, it is believed to be the best time of day to perform spiritual activities such as meditation, yoga and prayers.
Dawn is also the inspiration for countless poems and stories.
Indeed, dawn is completely inspiring.
For anyone who is not a morning person, I have the deepest sympathies.
To me, it is the best part of the day.
These days, I enjoy my time having coffee in the quiet mornings.
Enjoying the sunrise through the trees.
Holding court with our cats, who quietly share the peaceful time with me before the official business day begins.
A time to quietly give thanks for whatever the day ahead brings.
For each day starts as a fresh new page.
Ready to be written on - and experienced - and hopefully full of good things.