HARLINGEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — There is no better way to start the day than with a beautiful sunrise, and deep South Texas has some of the most breathtaking imaginable.
This is a wonderful time of year to enjoy an inspiring sunrise on the big lake at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, as fading fall winds have abated calming the waters in dawn’s soft light.
Every sunrise is distinct with its own unique beauty, while each brings the promise of a new day.
Sometimes, the eastern sky is splashed with subtle hues before the sun breaks the horizon; while on other mornings the sky is richly painted with intense crimson colors.
On cloudy days or fog-shrouded mornings, the sun has an ethereal appeal even if we have not arisen to admire it.
In the spring, blooming yuccas stretch toward the sunrise, and in the fall migrating waterfowl joyously take flight with the day’s first light adding their spirited call of the wild to daybreak.
Sunrise stirs primordial urges and amidst coyote howls, bucks begin to prowl and birds voice their dawn chorus.
Along the beach, pelicans take flight soaring low in search of fish to plunge for, and in the bay fishermen begin their first casts of the day.
Cowboys greet the dawn on horseback as they ride the vast coastal prairie, while a White-tailed hawk keenly scans the grassland for prey.
Sunrise is a time for quiet reflection and the words of Lyndon Johnson come to mind…”If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it.”
