Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning!" Waking up to another glorious morning at "Riverbend" and looking out on the river made me think of the German proverb "Morgenstund hat Gold im Mund" and I was surprised to find that its English equivalent is supposed to be "The early bird catches the worm".
This sounds far too avaricious when compared to its literal translation "The morning hour has gold in its mouth" which to me seems to imply that the early hour is precious beyond worldly values: it is that special time of the morning before the reality of the world gets hold of you and you are for a very brief moment suspended in the pure pleasure of feeling alive - or rather, when you get to my age, of still feeling alive.
All too soon the harsh light of the day has erased the magic of this special moment, and it's back to cooking the porridge - a cup of oats, a handful of raisins, and a spoonful of honey - and making plans for the day which today includes a drive into the Bay to check the mailbox, get some groceries, and find that special book in my favourite shop *)
Then it's back to the peace and quiet of "Riverbend" to make the most of what little time is left. So many books, so little time!
*) I'm always on the lookout for something more by John Pilger, Paul Theroux, Simon Winchester, Ray Bradbury and Hermann Hesse.
