It was such a good scheme – I wanted to get up early, go to the park near my house and find the PERFECT spot to see the sunrise! In preparation for a sunrise worship service on Easter Sunday – to celebrate that JESUS is alive! If I can convince anyone to get up early with me…
Now it should have been foolproof:
- I looked up the time of the sunrise in Madrid – around 7:00 am
- I browsed some sun lovers web pages to find out from which point I’d have a good view
- I set my alarm for 6:15am
- I went to bed reasonably early…
- I woke up and DID NOT go back to sleep =)
- I got dressed, ate a bite, grabbed my camera and went out the door…
- In great expectation I headed to the park towards the statue of the fallen angel (ángel caído) from where I was supposed to be able to see the sun rising through the trees…
All seemed well – it was almost 7am and I stood there fascinated by the large moon that was slowly disappearing into the clouds…After a while I asked a guard by the gate if I was in a good spot to see the sunrise. He told me yes, the sun would rise there but with the clouds I probably wouldn’t see much. I walked a little uphill and leaned against a wooden fence, waiting as I gazed at the sky. It was beautiful – the birds chirping, the cool fresh morning air, the solitary runner passing by now and again or a dog with his master. After about half an hour I began to feel cold, noticed a tint of red in the clouds and wondered why the sun was taking so long…I determined to walk around a bit to warm myself up and as I went down the path I scanned the sky for a glimpse of sunlight breaking through the clouds…and there it was! I had just turned around and looked up when I suddenly felt the warmth of sun rays and my eyes blinked in the brightness of the sunlight! The sun was already pretty high – how could I have missed it?! I had been there waiting so patiently for over an hour!
Well…my plan had seemed perfect. I had just forgotten one tiny but rather important detail – the sun rises in the east and I hadn’t thought to check my compass…though it should have been more than obvious due to the moon! But I had been facing in the wrong direction!
Feel free to laugh at me – I did so too! Suppose I have a reason to get up early again tomorrow…
