I opened my eyes one morning to a gentle light streaming through the window and beautiful shadows on the wall. I went to the kitchen, made a cup of coffee, and stepped outside. Seeing my breath in the air, I looked on the ground and saw our first frost covering the grass and leaves.

My five year old knocked on the window for me to come inside. “It’s cold!” he said. But soon enough, he was dressed and came out to join me. A few minutes later, I turned my head to see he had found the snow shovel and was winding his way through the frost, making a track.

With colder temperatures and shorter days come sunrises that slowly appear where previously blocked by leaves. As I started to notice the sunrises and show my two young boys, they’d start to notice too and would run into my bedroom in the morning, softly saying, “Mom, come see the beautiful sunrise!

I’ve always appreciated the sun, especially as the temperatures drop. Sunshine warms our days and provides for picture perfect scenes with my family. Even my dog has found a new sunny spot in the house to relax where the sunlight now streams into the house in the morning.

But just as I love to watch the sunrise on a beach once or twice a year, late fall and winter bring a gift to watch the sunrise every day. Whether watching from the window or stepping outside together, witnessing nature waking up provides a lot of conversation and is a great way to start the day.

Rebecca P. Cohen is Founder and President of Rebecca Plants LLC, a gardening and outdoor lifestyle company that inspires families to be outside and improve their well being. Mark your calendars for Thursday, November 19^th at 10:30EST for Rebecca’s next radio show, Get Out of the House, where callers will share favorite multigenerational ways to get outside for the holidays. http://www.rebeccaplants.com.

Copyright 2009 Rebecca Plants LLC

This morning I’m a little extra-groggy and yawny…my energy still napping in the bed I left an hour ago.  As I was groggily pouring my Wake-up Call coffee (seriously, that’s what it’s called!) at 5:30am, I was wishing for a simple something or another to perk up my day. 

And I thought of Rebecca’s “3 Great Things” — every night before bed, she and her young sons share three great things from their day, ending the day in gratitude. 

So why not also start the day in gratitude???  Even thinking about choosing 3 Great Things gave me a little shot of excitement just now!

Ok, so without further ado… My 3 Great Things this morning, in no particular order:

1. My wonderful kitties, Jazzy and Gitter, sitting here on my side table with their noses pressed against the window as they intently watch the birds outside.

2. The  “dink” notification of an early morning “good morning!” text message from a friend just now (thank you, Patti!).

3.  The pinkish-peach-bluegray color of the sunrise… an early morning gift of soft colors to gently nudge my vision awake.

 4.  Ok, I’m cheating… I have to add this fourth one:  this 3 Great Things concept — thank you Rebecca!  I haven’t specifically tried this before, and I’m amazed at how it’s changing my perspective for the day.  I’m noticing things all around me that I’m genuinely grateful for, and I bet I’ll keep noticing those things all day today. 

Now you — what are your 3 Great Things right now???  Please do share by adding your comment(s) below.

And this evening, let’s come back here and share our 3 Great Things at the end of the day to bring it all full circle before we once again greet our cozy beds.

 (post — including photos — by guest blogger Starla J. King of Signature Gardenscapes, LLC)