Chasing the Sunrise

I don't sleep as well as I'd like.  Usually I'm so reluctant to end the day and give in to sleep at night that I'm awake until well after midnight.  I justify that by thinking that I'll just sleep in the next morning.  Somehow that never happens, though.  By 6:00am, I'm wide awake, laying in bed trying to figure out what to do that will be productive, but still quiet enough to allow everyone else to sleep in.

This morning, after I checked emails, checked the weather, checked my favorite blogs, and checked everything else I could find on my phone, I finally couldn't stand it anymore.  I got up, threw on some sweats and flip flops, grabbed my poor, neglected camera, and decided to go chase down the sunrise. 

The thing about living in Texas is that there are no mountains.  There are no places high enough to see beyond the buildings and the trees.  So I could see the sky getting gradually lighter, and I could see a gorgeous pink stripe-y sky in front of me, but I couldn't catch more than a glimpse of it between subdivisions and buildings.

The other thing about Texas, though, is that you don't have to drive very far before the city gives way to amazing rural countryside.  As I kept driving further and further east to find some wide open space to take a sunrise picture, I drove through some beautiful places.   And I was still only 10 minutes from my house.

I have no idea where I was but it was beautiful, and I knew I had a GPS to get me safely back home, so I just kept searching for a spot where I could catch the sunrise.

I finally found a little road that led to a little farm so I stopped and took a couple of pictures.  I missed all that beautiful pink stripe-y sky, though.  

But I did make a new friend.  Doesn't she look so peaceful laying there in that comfortable damp grass with the sun coming up on her back?  That's what I feel like in the morning.  Lazy, reluctant to get up...

I spent a few more minutes watching the sun come all the way up over those trees, and then I started back home.  And my GPS led me past this beautiful place...

Who knew all these gorgeous treasures were right outside my door?

I loved taking a little drive this morning and escaping for a little while to someplace I've never been.  I blasted the Mary Chapin Carpenter music and thoroughly enjoyed the beauty of the morning.  Amazing way to start the day, for sure.