First Light
“Even after all this time, the sun never says to the earth ‘You owe me.’ Look what happens with a love like that. It lights up the whole world.”
Hafiz
“Here comes the sun, and I say
George Harrison, The Beatles, “Here Comes the Sun”
It’s all right.”
Years ago, when we were young, my roommate and I drove four hours in the middle of the night to Wilmington, North Carolina to see the sun rise over the ocean. We huddled under blankets on the sand in the darkness.
As it gradually got light, we noticed we weren’t alone—other people were watching too. And then, a gift: the rising sun revealed a beach strewn with conch shells.
We gathered a few, then ate grits and eggs in a diner before heading home. One of the best mornings of my life.
Since then I’ve watched the sun rise from mundane places—my porch, my office window. I’ve also watched from more memorable places: the edge of the Caribbean Sea, a hotel overlooking Vienna, a rooftop in Morocco, an olive grove in Tuscany.
To really see the sunrise, you have to arrive by first light. By the time the red ball breaks the horizon, the show is nearly over. At first light, even popular spots still feel wild and secret—like you are being let in on something special. The fisherman setting up in the dark understand what I mean. Most others arrive just a little too late.
The Hohokam people—who lived more than 1,000 years ago in the Sonoran desert where my house stands today—knew about first light. They tapped circles into a rock on the hill behind my house. When the sun’s first rays hit the target, they knew which equinox or solstice was passing, and exactly what to do with their crops.
For several months, I made the five-mile trek from my house to watch first light on that same hill every morning before work. Starting the day in wonder was the opposite of grounding; it gave me distance from my worries, and space to imagine something more. Looking back, I think those mornings marked the beginning of a kind of personal renaissance. I got stronger, more open to adventure, and more aware of good in the world.
The good news? First light is happening again tomorrow. All we have to do is show up.
Fiat cost: $0.00
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