A stunning--

This Monday morning was quite splendid, despite the fact that I was up two hours past my bed time the night before and opened at five thirty today. When we arrived at the coffee shop, everything outside was completely dark and clear, the solitary cars driving by on the street plainly visible. Within an hour, though, thick, dense fog invaded from the river, capturing all of the headlights. We couldn't see the first row of cars in the parking lot through the windows. 

But when the sun exploded above the opposing hill, the battle between the fog of predawn and the light of day began. It looked like a softer version of Sauron's, a far away orb casting its sight across the land, searching. The grey fog turned gold where the light soaked it, but remained silver-cold in the shadows. Slowly, the sun forced the two shades to meld, forming a soft mother-of-pearl color fog that clung to the grass and buildings by its fingertips, refusing to admit defeat. It hid behind cars and under trees, but in the end, the fog was vanquished and slunk back down to the cold river. 

That may have perhaps been a bit of a dramatized version of the morning, but I was stunned when the first few gleaming rays shot into my eyes. 

And speaking of stunning, I fell out of bed last night for the first time in many years. Granted, I was trying to climb down from my top bunk, but it was still a shock. This is my souvenir:

Pretty, ain't?