Sunrise

 

I like walking out on the morning constitutionals and saying "Wow".  This morning was another one of those 'wow' moments.  To the west a full crystal moon hung in a clear sky.  To the east  clouds were lit up a red-orange in anticipation of sunrise.  No snow yet but a covering of white frost.   It was beautiful.  I was late in getting up this morning so it was a little after 7 when the dog and I started out.  I heard a now familiar rumble and looked down the road.  A big truck was coming past my neighbor's house and would turn at the corner to come up past mine.  All of yesterday I had heard that sound.  Had gone outside twice before I realized Neighbor Schmitz is spreading his 'black gold'.  (No, not oil - liquid manure.)  He uses an extensive removeable pipeline to pump it to most of his fields but he has a field up past me.  Either that is just too far away to pump, to high an elevation from the source, or, more likely, crosses Devil's Creek and he can't get a permit to do that.    Instead the smelly stuff goes into tankers and is transported to the field where it's deposited.  My house is set well back from the road so I'm a little surprised I can hear these trucks so clearly.  Walked back inside the house and sat down at the computer.  Up pops a news story titled "Matt Gaetz and Caligula's Horse".  I didn't read it but I do know the story of Caligula's Horse so can imagine the gist of the article.  A beautiful sunrise, liquid manure, and ancient Roman politics - what a great start to the day!