I awoke before daybreak down here on Brown’s Orchard in Willcox. June, Marvin, the chickens, and the sheep were all still asleep as I crept out into the cold twilight of dawn to watch the stars fade and the orange glow of the rising sun takes hold of the horizon. The first sound of the day was the baa of a sheep somewhere out in the dark under the pear trees, quickly followed by the rooster announcing the sun would soon rise. The cold started to bite: I had not anticipated temperatures nearly as far from Phoenix temperatures as they were proving to be, long pants and a sweater would have been smart. With a sip of the apple cider I had pressed yesterday, I decided it was best to leave welcoming the new day to the sheep and chickens and so I went and crawled back into a still-warm bed.

Once finally awake and well fed, June had made an amazing breakfast for me, it was 10:00 and time to fetch Caroline on my swing back to Phoenix as her workshop only lasted the day.