Sunrise

In the winter the Northwest typically gives you two choices:

The default setting is rainy but moderately warm (somewhere between the low forties and the high forties). This makes for a lot of dark, short days between December and March.

My friend Lisa reminds me that this sort of thing often leads to the sort of creative despondency that produces great art.

I will take her word on that.

However, the B-side of this winter drizzle are the days when the east wind blows, and the sky clears, and the frost settles on the wet grass like sudden senescence.

That's when we get mornings like this one.

And for all the extra work; the careful descent down the icy stairs, the laborious de-icing of windows or (worse) breaking open of frozen doors, the high blue vault of sky during the daylight hours is always worth the labor.