The Sun Always Rises

I watched one of the last sunrises of 2023, and the very first sunrise of 2024, in the course of this past week.

(We came too early…) I always think that when we begin to wait for the sun to rise. It’s utterly dark. Even with the palm trees swaying all over, SoCal before dawn at this time of the year is too chilly to be comfortable. And the wind can be relentless at vista points. (When…?) (Where…?) Feelings of uncertainties almost takes over your anticipation with anxiety. (Too many clouds…?) (Is this the right direction….?)

But the sun always rises. First, it’s the bird one, joined by another, and more, and more. Then, the darkness begins to melt into the haziness. The edginess in the wind becomes rounder and softer. Then, suddenly, the tip of the sun pierces through. It’s an undeniable energy. From that point to the emergence of the whole sun makes one feel suspended. It’s like you are floating in the music of the spheres.

“How do you eat an elephant?”

Jeff asked me out of the blue, making me stunned, stopping me in mid-sentence. I was exasperated with all that was wrong with this world; the climate crisis, the refugee crises, armed conflicts, genocides, earthquakes and other disasters… That’s when he asked me.

“Say…what??”

“How do you eat an elephant?” He repeated himself, but I still didn’t know what to say.

“One bite at a time,” he told me. “You can’t put the whole elephant in your mouth! Of course not!! But if everyone takes one bite at a time, we can eventually finish even a whole elephant!” He always makes me laugh.

There are so many things in this world that I cannot help even a bit, from where I am, or with what I have to offer. But, I can keep myself in an optimal shape to be for when I am called to help. So, I started the new year with a trail run with a bunch of friends! Most of them were, unlike me, real runners – some of them were ultra marathon runners, even! I hiked, ran, and walked a total of 11.6 miles, and burnt 1,139 kilocalories in one single day!