Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Beautiful Morning....

I woke up at 4.00 a.m. And couldn't get back to sleep.

It was beautiful outside. It was cool and dark. Quiet.

I went inside, got dressed in something quick and went for a long walk around the neighborhood. Foolish, I know, in an urban area where crime lurks around every corner but I felt rather compelled to get out, feel the air, breathe it, look at other people's roses, while no one else was stirring.

Not even a car moved on the side streets where I walked. Just me. The dog was peacefully sleeping in my bedroom, at the end of the bed... She will expect a walk later. It was only me and the quiet of an early, early morning. The quiet was delicious. The only sound I could hear was the sound of my own footsteps and the occasional clatter of one of my bangles when I stopped to hold a flower and smell it.

Came back. Got undressed and went back to bed. I didn't get up until 9.00 a.m. There was something delicious in that, too.

Do you ever do that? Go for walks in the weesmas ~ for no particular reason, other than it seems like the thing to do at the time?

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22 comments:

Anvilcloud said...

Even the criminals were probably asleep by then. :)

Anonymous said...

I went through a period of terrible insomnia where I would often go for walks at 2 or 3 in the morning. For a while I carried my driver's license in my shirt pocket, because the police always wondered who I was and why I was up at that hour.

After a while, though, they'd just slow down, make sure it was only me, then wave and drive on.

heartinsanfrancisco said...

It's a lovely time of day when no one is about, and you have the world to yourself.

At that hour, it seems as if you could slip through a time warp, or into a looking glass world, effortlessly. But I'm glad you didn't. We would miss you, and your little dog, too.

Liv said...

um, no. but that's because I'm still sleeping from staying up until 3:30... and because early morning exercise in any form makes me queasy. :)

Unknown said...

I sounds lovely. I think I'm too nervous to do that even though I live in a good neighborhood. Maybe I'll give it a try. Sounds like it is soul restorative.

BTW, the last few times I've checked Technorati, your new posts have been there.

Hel said...

It sounds beautiful. I have walked around our garden very early and sometimes when I can't sleep I like to go and sit in our half build cob house and stare up at the stars.

"The dog was peacefully sleeping in my bedroom, at the end of the bed..." Oi

S said...

I always mean to, but fail to get myself out of bed...

Stephen Newton said...

TG, So glad you had a great walk in the wee hours. My preference is nighttime sojourns, especially far from the maddening crowd.

flutter said...

does it count if you do it in dreams?

Anonymous said...

Someday I will be able to do that - it sounds so nice. My husband leaves the house at 4:00 a.m. and I can't leave the boys alone. But someday they'll be old enough to be on their own for an hour.

When we're on vacation in 3 weeks, I will go for early morning walks on the beach. Yeehaw.

meno said...

I am lucky in that the few times when i wake up at that hour i can take the kayak out. I am not worried about criminals out there, and i can watch the sun rise all alone in the middle of the lake.

thailandchani said...

Anvil, I'd like to think so! LOL ... There is a park near my house where a lot of homeless people hang out.. so occasionally I might run into a homeless person so early in the morning... but that's about it.

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Thomas, I never take anything with me. Funny. It didn't occur to me.. but that is one way that men are not treated quite as fairly. If a cop came around, he or she would probably be mostly concerned about my safety, rather than suspicious of my motives.

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Susan, it's funny.. but I've had that thought sometimes. The veil is so much thinner at that time of day. I remember walking like that in Khon Kaen, too. Just me and the geckos at that hour!

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Liv, at least it doesn't feel like exercise at that hour. Now the weight lifting.. um.. and the yoga later... ARGH!

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ML, thanks for the info on Technorati. I've been raising hell in their help forum for weeks now. Maybe they finally fixed it.

And, yes, it is soul restorative. Oddly, I feel safer all alone out there than I do when everyone is whizzing around and I become disoriented.

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Hel, it was kind of amazing.. the dog, I mean. Usually if I so much as sneeze, she's all over the room. This morning was just.. different.

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SM, I am going to try to get myself out of the sack earlier every day.. perhaps at dawn. Then I can have that walk more often.

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Stephen, for some reason.. at night, I'm very cocoonish. I want to stay in.

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Flutter, it counts.. even if you only think about it! :)

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Capacious.. walking on the beach. Oh, wow! How I wish!

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Peace,

~Chani

Z said...

I used to live in Lowestoft, which is the most easterly place in Britain. It was lovely to stand on the beach, knowing I was the first person in the country to see the sun rise. The sea is often flat calm at dawn.

Julie Pippert said...

Not this time of year here...but yeah when it's not monsoon, hurricane and mosquito season I enjoy a bit of peace out like that.

Girlplustwo said...

i wish...i wake up early a lot but can never fall back to sleep. what a treat to get up and spend some time alone and then climb back into bed.

thailandchani said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
thailandchani said...

Meno, the kayak? Oh, wow! That sounds wonderful... a lake?

Oh, you are blessed! :)

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Z, I would love that, too! Oh, yeah! ;)

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Julie, I know what you're talking about. My future home has some of those limitations, too. Dang!

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Jen,I sure did like it.. and may just start setting the alarm so that I will get up at that time. Maybe go to bed a bit earlier.. something like that. It was so refreshing!

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Peace,


~Chani

dmmgmfm said...

I have done that. More in the past than now, but I think I'll start again. There's something so delicious about it.

Hugs,
Laurie

Anonymous said...

There were a few days in the early summer, when the air was palpable but not oppressive, that I longed for the days when my waking life included nighttime hours.

When my children were very small, I never minded the pre-dawn feedings (the just past midnight ones were the ones I dozed through groggily).

Now, I don't so much have to be alone to experience solitude, as long as I'm alone in the crowd, it's peaceful.

Christine said...

i never manage to get up that early, but wish i did. i've gone running early like 6am (this is rare, though!) and it is so wonderful!

QT said...

Chani - I walk every other morning between 5-5:30. I love it, it is so peaceful. And yes, sometimes I leave the dog at home, too.

mitzh said...

I miss having early morning walks..
It has been quite a loooong while.

It sure feels good, eh?