SUNRISE

An occasional bird call punctuates the quietness of early morning. Then the alarm clock disturbs the peace, and I turn the bedside radio on to allow ABC-FM's classical music to soften the task of waking up.

I open my eyes and look sleepily over the foot of the bed. I can see the dark outline of a eucalypt that we planted several years ago. It is some sixty metres from the house, and because it has grown well, it is now large enough to occupy a sizeable portion of the view through the large glass door on this eastern side of the bedroom.

My mind resolves to postpone the start of the day, at least for a little while. Some time later, at 6.32, I decide that enough is enough, and it is time to get this day under way. However, before I can translate the thought into the action of getting up, a time of magic occurs.

The sun is rising, but because it is autumn, its rays are not shining directly into the bedroom as they do at the height of summer. Rather it is more to the north and I cannot see it, but what I do see is its indirect presence.

The sun's early morning beams are shining onto the countless leaves of the eucalypt. Its lower trunk and nearby shrubs are still bathed in darkness, but the larger leaves of the middle portion of the tree form a glistening mass. The smaller leaves at the top are tiny specks of light swaying back and forth in a gentle breeze. Little birds enter and depart the highlighted foliage. A number of small white clouds form a backdrop.

Slowly the morning glow increases.

Then something happens which transforms this sunrise into something very special. Emma, the radio announcer, introduces the next piece of music - the first movement of Haydn's Sunrise Quartet.

This memorable piece of music portrays the beauty and promise of the rising sun, and on this particular morning as it is being played, the reality of its theme is taking place before me.

It is a wonderful coalescence of a beautiful life-affirming natural event and a fine musical expression of that event.

A young eucalypt, by capturing some of the effects of the sunrise, plays a key role in bringing such a blending about.

Later in the day as I stand beside the eucalypt and place my hand on its trunk, I reflect on how interrelationships are a vital part of a sustainable earth community.

-Stan Mussared