I am an early riser most of the time no matter where I happen to be in the world, so I’ve experienced sunrises in many places.  It’s hard to be dispondent at the exact moment when the sun breaks into a new day.  In Greek mythology Eos, the Goddess of the Dawn, opens the gates of heaven at the beginning of the day so Helios can ride his chariot across the sky.  One of my favorite phrases from Homer’s poems, Rhododáktylos Ēṓs (Rosy-fingered Dawn), always comes to my mind when I see the first light of day.  A couple of days ago my photo du jour was a picture of my Yoshida friends, Dave and Clyde. On Wednesday morning as I rode my bicycle down into Mission Valley on my way to coffee with those friends just as the sun was breaking out of the mountains to the east of San Diego, I was so overwhelmed by Rhododáktylos Ēṓs that I had to stop and watch for a couple of minutes. 

Homer used the rosy-fingered dawn expression often in his great poem about the travels of the hero Odysseus.  The epithet is an effective metaphor marking the beginning of his journey.  Later in the Odyssey the metaphor is “gold-throned dawn” and “bright-throned dawn” to signal that the man has been tried and found strong enough for whatever a day may bring. When he is near the end of his journey and must return home, the returning is a fresh start for which Odysseus isn’t completely confident that he can handle, so Homer describes the dawn once again as Rhododaktylos.

The first week in January is always a fresh beginning.  The dawn this morning was indeed rosy-fingered.  I got my photo du jour with my iPhone from a bouquet of flowers at Ruth’s and Bill’s house. It’s consistent with the rosy-fingered dawn image. The sunrises are from other places and other times.

Sunrise...  Baja California

Dawn... Vancouver, B.C.

Rosy-fingered Dawn... Ushuaia, Argentina

Sunrise... North Atlantic

Sunrise... bridge 

Dawn... San Diego Harbor

Sunrise.. San Diego