I am Witness to Journey of Miraculous Magic.

I wake at 4.30am. The sky is so bright I think it must be full moon. But it's the stars.The planets.

I go downstairs, open the back door and step into a canopy of crystal sparkle above me. I only remember ever seeing the night sky lit up like this in the Southern Hemisphere. In Africa.

My camera doesn't capture it.

There is a moon as well but  only the sliver of a crescent, hiding behind the branches of the European Ash tree.

It's not cold. 

It's quiet, quiet, still, still. 

No breeze.

No animal sound.

No water sound.

The whole world holding its breath

in my garden.

The grass is wet, soft under my feet.

 I wrap myself in the pussy cat blanket,

make a mug of hot tea 

and sit on the wide wooden step outside the kitchen door.

And wait for the dawn.

Wait and watch in wonder. And awe.

Slowly slowly it comes.

The moon rises out of  the ash tree

the pattern of stars fades

only the brightest remain - 

a line of three.

The first sound is the call of an owl -  almost a cat's howl

Then a car engine starting up.

Then the chimes of the church bell in the village.

Six rings.

Then a plane overhead,

and monochrome turns to a wash of colour.

I sense the sheep in the field move almost as one. They have been there all this time. Not making a sound.

 After the owl calls, the hedge comes alive with a chorus of  sparrows.

The parliament of crows and gulls and pigeons punctures the stillness. 

The small black shadow of a bat flits in and out of the plane tree.

The sky is completely light now but I'm still waiting for the sun to come.

And finally at 7.30 am it bursts through the leaves of the ash tree, striping the dew on the grass with gold.

It is in exactly the same place where I saw the crescent moon at 4.30 am slipping out of the branches of the European Ash tree beyond the stream at the bottom of the garden.

 I feel as if I've been a witness to a journey of miraculous magic.

It  happens every night,  another day dawns

 all over the world.

The sun always rises with or without me.

 But today I was blessed to be there. And I feel more alive, more awake than I have for ages and ages..as if it is worth being here after all....rescued by the dawn...just in time.