Watching the sunrise certainly makes you feel you get value for your day. This morning I took a trip up Caer Caradoc to catch the sun coming up.
I knew the weather would be fine but it did of course mean an early start, thankfully Caradoc isn't too far from my home. I parked the car in Church Stretton some 15 minutes away from the base of Caradoc and already there was some light beginning to appear in the east. My only companions on the way up were a couple of bats, an owl, and sheep, who were looking at me as if to say "what on earth are you doing here at this time of the day".
Eventually I made it to the top and by now the sky had lightened and was changing colour. The wind was blowing so I took a few shots before finding some shelter to the leeward side of the summit, waiting for that moment when the sun first makes its appearance. There was a bank of clouds to the east obscuring the sun and whilst waiting I convinced myself the clouds were building up, deliberately delaying that moment when the sun would finally appear, but eventually it did.
Those first few moments when the sun's rays break through on a new day are truly magical. Not only does the light change completely, but the whole atmosphere changes as well. It really does lift your spirits especially when you are viewing a sunrise, as I was, from high up. Looking down on the hamlets and villages surrounding Caer Caradoc and the Lawley.
Happy with the shots I'd taken, the sun was now fully up and those fleeting moments of sunrise were gone for another day. With a broad grin on my face I made my way back down, spotting a buzzard soaring in the valley below me. It's not often I get to look down on a buzzard in flight!
Heading back to my car I reflected on the fact I had just welcomed the start of this brand new day, and witnessed for myself the earth's rotation giving the impression that it's the sun that's moving through the sky not the planet slowing spinning on it's axis.
Driving home it felt like I'd already achieved a lot in the day, but of course the day had only just begun.
