I am up before Dawn. I still get up at the same time each morning. A lifetime of arising at five A.M. is hard to overcome but the Dawn is later and later each day as the season progresses. The lateness of the Dawn is thanks to the axial tilt of the Earth. The up at five is thanks to the U.S. Army and the telephone company. It is a peaceful time, before the daily rush of commuters and motorcycles pushes the peace aside. Each morning a freight train comes through in the dark, wailing its mournful groan as it passes through the town. It always reminds me of when I was working in the Mid-West. A young man, far from home, stuck in a dead-end job but refusing to admit a mistake and staying with it. Out in the flat green pool table of America, long freight trains pierce the dark with their lonely lament. The perfect accompaniment for a brooding Swede sitting in the dark thinking "Things wouldn't be this bad if you only worked harder.". And so I wait for Eos's golden tresses to wreath the trees. The maple in the back yard was overpowering yesterday. The oranges and reds and yellows and still some greens were interrupted by only a few browns. I am looking forward to seeing it this morning.
So I sit here at the keyboard with one troublesome thought dashing in and out of my mind. Before I go to sleep each night I have been reading a book by Stephen Hawking. I took several Astronomy courses when I was younger, so parts of it are familiar but last night he put forth the concept of anti-time. As a way of simplifying the concept he used "i" and compared it to the square root of -1. I can't seem to get my mind around either concept. Then he offers a diagram that shows the beginning of the Universe at 0, expanding and then contracting to -0. Reading Stephen Hawking to put your mind at rest before going to sleep is like asking Stephen King to tell you a bedtime story.
The sky is beginning to lighten but there is a heavy layer of grey clouds that are obscuring even the moon, so the tree might have to wait another day. But trees are patient. They have learned to wait. I have learned to wait also. Wait for what? The song of the train.