Magical Mornings

During my early college years I discovered early mornings by necessity and how wonderful they are.  My love for mornings began during the summer between my second and third years of college.  I was working full time and taking two summer classes.  I struggled to get my homework done after a day of classes and work.  One night I was just too tired to do any homework and decided to go to bed and get up early.  It worked so well I continued to do it for the rest of the summer.  I loved the quiet of the morning.  I started getting up early on weekends too.  I had a few hikes that summer and would watch the sunrise over Lake Tahoe. 

Last Saturday I woke up at 5:30.  I just couldn't sleep.  I got up and paced in my dark hotel room trying to be quiet.  I decided to peek through the curtains after a few minutes to see if I might want to head outside for a few minutes.  I was pleasantly surprised with 6 inches of fresh fallen snow on the deck.  It was still snowing and I couldn't resist going out to it.  I took my camera and captured a few pictures (the picture above isn't one of those pictures - it was still too dark).  After a several wonderful minutes of taking in the scene, feeling the cool air, hearing the snow crunch under my shoes and the feel the snow melt in my hair I went back inside my room and climbed under the covers.  I didn't fall asleep and so I got up again a little after six to see how the sky had changes.  This picture was taken then.