Sunrise on Slaughter Road
Scotchtown, NY - August 6, 2010
I took this photo on Slaughter Road this morning. I left early to take photos of the sunrise on my way to work.

Most dramatic photos you see are probably of sunsets. They suggest solitude or a mood of intimacy as the night is just beginning.

On the other hand, there is nothing romantic about sunrises. They signal a new day of backbreaking work when the air is greeted by your morning breath.

So I guess you can say I’m trying to prove something by taking pictures of sunrises -- that I’m an early-riser.

I’d say the habit was born out of excitement in my early teen years. Excitement because on some days on my way home from school, I’d see a newsstand along Avenida selling the latest issue of one of my favorite DC comic books. I’d sleep early that night -- 8 o’clock right after dinner foregoing TV -- so that tomorrow may come sooner and I’ll have fresh allowance that I can use to buy that comic book if it’s still there the following day. On occasion some other kid beat me to buying my comic book. Where I’m from comic books came from U.S. bases in very limited quantity and so I have learned painfully early on that the early bird does get the worm.

Today, there’s not much need for that. I am in the land of opportunity where diversions for kids and grownups alike abound. But I kept the habit. I still get up early. I catch the sunrise because I have no time for sunsets. For me, dusk is a time of chores. Untended clutter prattles inside my head whenever I go off on leisure prematurely. So I try to be efficient for one reason only -- to get my chores out of the way as quickly as possible that tomorrow may come sooner and I may then slack off in unabashed bliss.

Call me Mr. Industrious. But down inside I am deeply, profoundly lazy.

Anyways, my apologies for the long intro. But I needed to justify to myself why I’m getting up so early to take pictures of sunrises instead of sunsets when no one can tell the difference anyway...

Click on a picture to enlarge.
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