discovering the joys of rising with the sun

Its a cold winter morning in January. The bluish half light of dawn filters through the curtains. The University is closed for the holidays.These are the days to sleep in and listen to the house waking up. But surprisingly the sun's been out everyday since the 1st day of 2007. And when in Scotland, one cannot afford to pass a sunny day out for its sheer scarcity. I have recently discovered an almost guaranteed way of a jumpstart morning- BEHOLD..the radio alarm! This particular morning it sets off at 8 am. There's a good song playing but I can't really figure it out in my sleep. I snuggle deeper in my warm bed for a while. I can slowly decipher the words to the song...Its not unusual to be loved by anyone...Tom Jones sings into my ear. I finally wake up 5 minutes later and get ready for a day out in the sunshine!

It looks gorgeous outside. A soft golden tint atop the city's historic structures.By 9 im on a train to North Berwick to climb the Law( Law, being an old word for rounded or conical hill). 'North Berwick Law rises to 187 metres (613 feet) behind the quaint fishing town of North Berwick on the stunning East Lothian coast. This volcanic lump gives a magnificent panoramic view of much of Lothian, into the Scottish Borders and across the Firth of Forth to the Fife coast. On the summit of the Law is a signalling station used during the Napoleonic conflicts and a pair of whale's jaw bones.' And so a few of my friends and me start with the climb.The climb is steep and mucky in places and jagged,dry and rocky in others. After cursing myself 20 times for starting to climb this wretched hill and thinking on every step that I can still turn around and head back down, I persist and eventually make it huffing n puffing to the summit!And Im glad I did because the view is just unbelivable. Can see the coast, the deep blue waters sparkling in the sun, the Isle of Man far off in the horizon sumwhere, the town of Berwick down below...everything is so stunning.There is however no arc made of whale bones to be found!! Maybe the brochures cheated us??

If climbing up was so petrifying, I thought for sure I'd crying like a sissy on my way down. But as it turns out, it is infact very easy to go downhill. I am so relieved that I decide to run down for a bit because I realise I can actually do it! So I'm running, wind in my face, both arms spread wide like a bird in flight I run...it is an exhilarating feeling until ...I slip on muck and land royally on my ass!Jimmay!! I ruin my jeans horribly. Its brown and looks like I shat myself. I didnt get hurt just mortified! Why the ass?? I could have fallen on my face and scrapped my nose. Ouch ...no, that would not be ok at all. But...sigh..what happened was for real. It wasnt just my fear of falling manifesting itself in the back of my mind. After a moment of looking like -a 2 year old who realizes own fart for the first time and wonders where the sound came from- I gather myself and then all I can do is laugh replaying the whole weeee-I'm--running-like-the-wind- la di da-SPLAT scene. Anyway, I roam around town for the rest of day with a fleece scarf tied around the patch of disaster on me arse. A new fashion statement perhaps?

We then walk around the town a bit, eat lunch, sit on the beach,read a book, throw around a frisbee, try some cartwheels etc. The sun is now setting behind a rock far out in the sea. I can see a tiny red sail boat far off and a lighthouse too. We sit there enjoying the scene for so long that it is now quite dark and its just 4:00 pm!! Thats winter days in the northern hemisphere! We head back into town and go to a pub and knock back some smooth famous grouse whiskey. Sure does warm the old cockles..lol..like they say here. After that, we all agree to call it a day and head back to edinburgh.

All in all it was a lovely day and all I can be grateful of is the fact that I woke up early.On any given vacation day in winter, one would find me in deep hibernation and I'd probably roll out of bed at 4 in the afternoon! Well, what can I say? Im just discovering the joys of rising with the sun.:)
I will not make any more futile resolutions.They're fast becoming a joke. I'll let the bad habits of the past be. Instead I'd rather look ahead so...

Me POA for 2007 is:
1.Hill walking( 2 hills down so many more to go)
2.Sign up for piano lessons* provided not too damaging to bank account.
3.Go on a Whiskey trail( again 2 down so many more to go..types of whiskey i mean:))
Whats the fun of being in scotland if ur not up for sum scotch? Thats what I realized and now working on it.Toured a whiskey distillery in Glenlivet.I think thats a good start.
4.Travel.Isle of Skye/Aran,Ireland and Amsterdam on my list for spring/summer 07.
5.Kick the living shit out of second semester.Hope to do better than first.
6.Start visiting career office and work on dissertation topic.
7.Edinburgh festival. yowzaa!!!!:)