New Beginnings

The first day of the month has always been like a mini New Year's Day to  me. You know, the resolutions, the promises to eat better, exercise, clean up my act, etc.  Life, on the beginning of any given month seems to have bright possibilities, hope for something better and at least a little bit of excitement that I could actually fulfill positive changes in my life.  The end of the month, however, often comes with the disappointment of failing to do so, and a little less resolve for the next day which is of course the start of something new again.

This morning dawned cloudy and raining.  I mistook 7am, which in recent days had been blazing with the bright Alaskan sun, as about 4am and almost went back to sleep.  The mountains to the east have gradually become shrouded in clouds, their peaks a mere ghost image against a white sky.  Typical of Alaskan "summers" this weather is not altogether unwelcome.  The truth is, we need rain, we usually do this time of year.  Our early springs are dry and dusty and the long, sunny days make us almost delirious.  I would suspect that a profound change in our weather which gave us more sunny summer days than rainy ones would perhaps be frightening with the possibility that global warming was preceding at a reckless pace.  Still, I yearn for more sun, as do most Alaskans who live through the anemic light of winter.

Trying to motivate myself to exercise today would have been easier if a steady, light rain was not falling; and as yet, I still have to summon the will and resolve to get on the treadmill.  (I am at least in my workout clothes)  A walk in the rain might be nice you would think, but I live in an industrial area with 18-wheelers passing by my home regularly and all manner of equipment lumbering down the nearby roads.  The drab warehouses offer little contrast to the sky and against this dull backdrop the prospect of a morning walk loses it's appeal.  Evenings are quieter, traffic minimal as commerce and industry slow with the dictates of work day schedules.

But it is a new month and one that is our greatest season of light, that in itself should be celebrated.  We will see the hours of daylight peak this month, but also begin to diminish in its waning days.  June is bittersweet with the relentless cycle of universe turning beginnings and endings.