(sunrise photo by Andre Daugherty) There is something about the mountains just before sunrise. There is a weighty quality to this time, before the mountains let go of the sunrise and release it into the sky. The forest is absolutely still… but there is this charged feeling of the coming day. Darkness soon to lighten. Stillness soon to move once again.  I love to be awake during this transition and, nowadays, I am usually seated in meditation, which has been a truly incredible practice. To still the body and allow the mind to attend fully to the present moments of the daytime unfolding around me. I find my comfortable sitting posture, and allow the body and mind to settle by focusing on the breath entering and leaving my body. Other than the sound of my own breath, and the occasional snore of a large black dog curled up on my lap, it is so quiet I swear I can sometimes hear my own heart beating. And this silence is not dull, not empty, nor ever is it the same from day to day. And somehow, it seems… timeless. And then, the very first bird decides to call out. Often, in my mountain holler home during these warmer months, the first birdsong comes from the [...]