Morning in Stratford

And wakes the morning, from whose silver breast
The sun ariseth in his majesty;                  
  Who doth the world so gloriously behold,
  That cedar-tops and hills seem burnish'd gold.

William Shakespeare

Venus & Adonis

Our last morning in Stratford, I woke up around 5 am, left my roommates sleeping so soundly, and took a walk along the Avon river, staring at Holy trinity church and made my way over to the bridge by the RSC theater. 

One thing I inherited from my mother was love of that early morning. Not that I like to awake in the morning, but there's something about being outside in the early morning, it's quiet, no one else is up. The world belongs to you. I felt like that morning, Stratford belonged to me. 

I watched the sky turn from a blue dusk to a rosey orange

 I was in love with how the RSC theater looked in the purple sky, reflecting on the almost still river. I felt like I was spending the morning with the theater.

Slowly, the sun started to peek through. Watching the sunrise is such a breathtaking thing. It was one of the only things I liked about doing the paper route, every now and then you'd get to see the sunrise. But it never compared to this. I think one thing that made a huge difference was:

 Location, Location, Location.

And every now and then the photography gods smile on you.

It amazed me to see this city and river so quiet and still. Especially since the day before the park and streets were filled with thousands of people and the river filled with hundreds of ducks, swans, and boats.

 And further more, it was beautiful to watch the ducks wake up as the sun did.

The water was so glassy and beautiful, I was amazed at still a river could be. I'm so used to rivers in the rocky mountains that have rapids and are rushing and filled with runoff. In Utah they tell you to stay out of the rivers till the snow is melted because you could get swept off your feet. But this? This was just so peaceful and beautiful!

I was going to be so sad to leave such a beautiful place, and as amazing as London is...It is nothing to Stratford. I wish I could have given Stratford a big hug and say thank you for the beautiful trip.