There is something innately enchanting about a bright, crisp morning. I have discovered both to my joy and horror that during winter the sun shines directly through my bedroom window in the early morning. Some days I just grumble and pile a mound of pillows over my head to block the sunlight out. However, most mornings (when it actually is sunny) I find it to be a wonderful incentive to leap out of bed and embrace the day. Today was one of those mornings, one where you can’t help but feel happy. Rather than going for a run as I usually do before breakfast, I opted to rug up and head out for a short stroll (such a peaceful word, isn’t it?). The combination of bright blue skies, frosty green grass and the bone-numbing cold – well 5C is cold by Sydney standards – creates an almost ethereal atmosphere. That’s if you are able to ignore the streams of cars going by and the sounds of early morning construction work! It seems as though many of my most precious memories are of these kinds of mornings – running past the college rowers on the Thames in Oxford, an early morning walk in the Snowy Mountains on a family holiday and so on. Consequently I take on the persona of an elderly person, reminiscing about this and that until someone eventually tells me to shut up. Continue reading →