beautiful dawn

The calm of a spring dawn

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It was an early morning in Kimberling City, Missouri. We’d escaped our northern winter temperatures and snow and met up with family and friends to enjoy early spring in southern Missouri. Here the lakes were not frozen and the grass was green.

The colors of a pink and orange dawn gave way to the cool blues of the sky. The tree branches seemed to grasp at the white clouds as they drifted by. Off in the distance I could hear the loons calling as they’re migrating north. The cardinals were high in the budding trees singing their morning songs, and the redbud and dogwood trees were opening their blossoms to the warmer days.

Gradually the world awakened. Other people in the campground started to stir and I could hear boats beginning to head out onto the big lake. The calm and quiet was broken. Now it was time to join others and relish the warm sunshine and fresh air – a perfect spring day!

A glorious fall morning

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The brilliance of a fall morning!  There is a deepening of yellows and oranges now, and the reds are sprinkled throughout the landscape.  This particular morning dawned cool but the sun still had warmth to provide.  The lake was calm, the geese were calling overhead, and fall was celebrating all its glory.

Sunrise and ice

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The dawn was cold and crisp.  Although the temperatures have been above freezing during the day, they still dip into the teens and twenties at night.  The multiple inches of snow on the lake have melted and frozen many days in a row, and what snow remains is only an inch or two deep on the lake.  The sunrise was an explosion of color greeting the day, and some of those brights were reflected in a portion of snow-free ice on the lake.  I am always energized after sharing in the beauty of a dawn like this.

Early winter moonset

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Early winter moonset 70201_StaatsOur weather has been cooler since Thanksgiving when we had a bit of snowfall.  The consistent cold temps have allowed ice to form on our lakes and ponds.  With the promise of a crisp and clear morning I headed to the nearby golf course, not knowing what to expect.  What I found was a beautiful dawn with pink skies, a full moon that was slowly making its journey to the horizon line, a frozen pond without snow cover that provided a beautiful soft reflection to the trees, and a wonderful stillness and peace that prevailed in the early hours.  The warning signs for “Thin Ice” have already been placed, and some of the ducks and geese are being forced to larger lakes as they search for open water.  Slowly we are moving into winter.